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A CHART OF THE RIVER OF LIFE, 

I 

OR THE DISPENSATIONS FROM ABRAHAM TO THE END OFTIME 


mu] 


made a covenant with 
Abraham, who is conside¬ 
red the eastern gate of the 
temple, shown to Ezekiel 
in the vision, at which 
place the river of life, or 
revelation, commences.— 
Sec Ezek. 4?. 


This temple, shown to 
Ezekiel by an angel, rep¬ 
resents Abraham, who was 
born about 2000 years B. 


C. at which period God 
1^0 renewed the jromise he 
made to Eve, and also 


ham to the dedi¬ 
cation of Solo¬ 
mon’s temple, at 
which place the 
waters of the ri¬ 
ver were as deep 
as to the ancles, of 
a man. 


I*** From the above 
eastern gate of the 
temple, which i» 
the birth and life 
time of Abraham, 
the angel ineasur- 
ed a thousand cu- 
bits, or years, and 
t<Y> extend fromAbra- 


mu -.is iu i 


From the 
dedication 
^ of Solo- 
mon’stcm- 
pie till the 
birth of 
•gsfe Christ, are 
&& a thousand 
cubits, os 


years, at 
which 
place the 
waters 
were as 
deep as to 
the knees 
of a nian. 


w*s a 

thousand 
cubits, or 
years, at 
which 
place the 
waters 
were as 
deep as 
to the 
loins of a 
man, 
though 
obscured 
by those 
dark 
moun¬ 
tains of 
error. 


: to m 

the birth- 
jyxfy of Christ 
Wg till the 

«L mc of 

the eom- 
X>i pletion 

Ur .i - 


of the 
dark ages 
when 

transub- ^ 
stantia- 
tion was 
first in- ,1 
vented in ■> 
the tenth “ 
century, 


I 

: 'X^ From the M 
yp-ar 1000, 1| 
A. D. were |lj 
measured a 

H i # 

cubits, or Jig 
years,’ to 
wbera the 
prophet _ 

X/,. saw this ri- 

ver so in- w| 
creased in pj 
width, that || 
it was -i 
shoreless, " 
ami in 
depth suffi- 
cient to 
swim in, 
which pe- 
riod is the % 
Millenium 


mm l,ere Sre 

riw sented by 
emblems of 

Wj§/ P eace ; for yy 

=j®f the river at ijs/g 

mt, ""f, i“ riod m 

will em- 
Mfii brace the 
whole 

i 'mm ear ^'> ma ' m 

ms king from && 
|py Abraham, 

KMaf till the end SSS5S 
of the, next 
century, 
4000years, 

y which is |<Cfe 

the length 
of the river 
measured 
by the an- 


the commencement of the Millennium till the end, is 1000 y 
nnletion of which Satan is to be loosed a little scasou. See 


ill take place immediately after the decision 
the lake of fire, w |,icll is the second death. 


1 a 

iEHail ! 

jj 

Jffit 

--- 

IL 
—* 
















































































OF TIIE EXPECTED 


mmsmst mMn» 


WHICH IS PROMISED IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, AND IS BELIEV 
ED TO BE NIGH ITS COMMENCEMENT, AND MUST 
TRANSPIRE BEFORE THE CONFLAGRATION 
OF THE HEAVENS AND THE 
EARTH 

EMBELLISHED WITH A CHART, OF THE 
DISPENSATIONS FROM ABRAHAM 
TO THE END OF TIME. 

And they lived and reign’d with Christ a thousand years,—Rev. xs. 4. 

* 

« The time of rest, the promis’d Sabbath comes— 

Six thousand years of sorrow have well nigh 
Fulfill'd their tardy and disastrous course.”— Comrpn\ 


BY JOSIAII PRIEST. 









ALBANY: 

PUBLISHED FOR SUBSCRIBERS-. 

Loomis’ Press. 










Northern' district of new-york, to wit : 





BE it remembered, that on the twenty-fifth day of June, in the 
fifty-first year of the Independence of the United States of Ameri¬ 
ca, A. D~ 1827, Josiah Priest of the said district, hath deposited 
in this office the title of a book, the right whereof lie claims as 
author in the words following, to wit : “ A view of the expected 
Christian Millennium, which is promised in theJHoly Scriptures, 
and is believed to be nigh its commencement, and must transpire before the 
conflagration of the heavens and the earth ; embellished with a chart of ihe'dis- 
pensations from Abraham to the end of time. And they lived and reigned with 
Christ a thousand years.—Rev. xx. 4. 

‘ The time of rest, the promis’d Sabbath comes— 

Six thousand years of sorrow have well nigh 
Fulfill’d their tardy and disastrous course .’—Coiir 


By Josiah Priest.”' 


In conformity' to the act of the congress of the United States, entitled'** Arss 
act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies off maps, charts 
and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times there¬ 
in mentioned and also, to the act entitled “ An act supplementary to an act 
entitled * An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of 
maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies dUring'the 
times therein mentioned,’ and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of de¬ 
signing, engraving and etching historical and other prints.” <*-• 

R. R. LANSING, Clerk of the district court 
of the United States for the northern district of New-York. 


V A 

1 ’’ .•<* 

(S& 


■■ >*■ <* , - 


/ 




m * 







INDEX. 


Page 

1st. An account of the term Millennium, its import and 
meaning, . . . .18 


2d. Shall show that such a period was expected, by the pro- 
f pnets, the Jewish Rabbins, and doctors, as the grand ultimo 
of the Messiah’s reign on earth—and is now in expectan¬ 
cy, by the churches, according to the scripture promises, >16 


3d. Shall give a view of the wonderful signs of the times 
which preceded the great deluge and the birth of Christ: 
a curious and interesting account of Herod the Great, who 
put to death the infants of Jerusalem. Also a minute de¬ 
scription of the Ark, and of the animals saved in it—-prov¬ 
ing it amply sufficient to contain all the scriptures state it did, Oo 


4th. Shall exhibit the signs of our own times which clearly 
indicate the Millennium nigh at hand, but must be prece¬ 
ded, by one of its effects, of the power of the great God ; 
such as man has not witnessed since the world began, 

Oth. Shall represent the probable state of the wicked part of 
mankind, just previous to the Millennium ; in which divi¬ 
sion will be given an account of Rome pagan and Rome 
papal, which subjects are signified in the 13th and 17th 
chapters of Revelations, • 


6th. The way and manner considered, in which God will pro¬ 
bably remove the wicked from the earth, that the Millenni¬ 
um may commence, for they shall not see that glorious sun 
arise, nor enter that land of promise, . 

7th. Will show when the Millennium will come, by a view of 
the ancient Jewish Sabbaths, an exhibition of which is ex¬ 
ceedingly interesting, in reference to that day. And as 
analagous to the same point, shall present a view of natural 
and supernatural periodical recurrences. And shall give an v 
illustration of the three visions in the book of Daniel as far 
as they refer to the time when the sanctuary shall be clean¬ 
sed, or when the Millennium shall arrive, ... 



INDEX. 


7 V 

Page 

8th. An account of the first resurrection, and the subsequent 
happiness of all people ; with which will be connected ar¬ 
guments to prove that all moral and natural evil shall cease 
a thousand years from the earth ; and that it was the origi¬ 
nal intention of the Creator to clothe our first parents, 
whether they stood or fell, .... 250 

9th Division embraces a position that man when he fell, lost 
his extraordinary power or government over the animal 
kingdom, and became exposed to their natural fury, but in 
the Millennium shall recover his government again, 287 

10th Division contains arguments to prove, that neither the 
disposition nor death of the animal creation was affected 
by man's fall into sin, as is believed by many, but the true 
reason of their death is assigned, .. . . 299 

11th. The sentiment which, embraces the opinion, that all the 
animal creation shall arise from the dead, to be remunera¬ 
ted for their sufferings, which by some is said to be occa¬ 
sioned by the sin of man, refuted, . .. . 509 

12th Division exhibits a view of the vast multiplication of 
mankind during the Millennium, and of their political stute : 
also who they are-who wifi attempt to make war upon the 
camp of the saints, called Gog and Magog ; and why Sa¬ 
tan must be loosed for a little season after the Millennium 
is passed by : and in what manner it is likely they w ill at¬ 
tempt their attack of the saints, . . . 310- 

13th Division embraces a view of the resurrection of the 
wicked dead after the Millennium, and their miserable con¬ 
dition ; and endeavours a description of the earth’s dissolu¬ 
tion, and in what manner the elements will operate on 
k each other, so that a general conflagration may take place, 
and what shall he its final end, . . . 343 

14th Division embraces a view of the promised new creation, 
which is to succeed the destruction of this system. “ And 
lie that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things 
new.” Rev. xxi. 5, . . , . , 366 


INTRODUCTION 


A knowledge of the opinions the ancient fathers entertained 
upon the subject of a Millennium, is highly interesting, and are 
presented here as proof that the subject is by no means the growth 
of the present times. It is pleasing to find our awn deductions 
from the Sacred Volume agree, in any sense,,with the>writings of 

the primitive fathers, and of those .who have .been 'distinguished 
upon this subject in modem times. As the ancients of the Chris¬ 
tian church believed in the final arrival of a thousand years Mil¬ 
lennium, when the religion of the Messiah shall wholly triumph in 
all the earth, so the humble author of this book most cordially 
and devoutly espouses the doctrine, because supported by the 
Scriptures. There has been no age of the Christian church, in 
which the expectation of the Millennium was not admitted by 
many divines of the first eminence, though never embraced in 
any creed as an article of faith essential to salvation. But the 
captivating hope has ever possessed the bosom of the militant 
church, before and since the advent of Christ, that his sceptre 
shall, in the seventh Millennary of time, be swayed in its gentle 
influences over all the earth. 

About the middle of the fourth century, says Mr. Buck, the 
Millennians held the following tenets : 1. That the city of Jeru¬ 
salem shall be rebuilt; and that the land of Judah ..shall be the 
habitation of those, who are to reign on the earth a thousand years. 
2. That Christ shall then come down from heaven, and be seen 
on earth, and reign here with his servants. 3. That during that 
period the saints are to enjoy all the delights of the first terrestial 
paradise. 

These opinions were founded upon the 20th chapter of Reve¬ 
lation, from the first to the sixth verse inclusive, and were under¬ 
stood by the apcient Millennarians in the literal sense, who taught, 
that during the Millennium, the saints on the earth were to enjoy 
every bodily delight, consistent with innocence and holiness. This 
opinion is undoubtedly correct, but that Christ will personally dwell 
on the earth with his saints, who are to remain after the first resur- 
. rection a thousand years, is not promised ; therefore, in that ex- 

A* 


VI 


INTRODUCTION. 


.pectation they were not correct. Though the promise in the 
sixth verse of the 20th chapter of Revelation, is, that the saints 
** shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign 'with him 
a thousand years,” yeti do not understand thereby, that the per¬ 
son of Christ must necessarily become visible on the earth during 
the thousand years. If Christ is the only wise God, and has all 
power, consequently he reigns in an omniscient sense, not only 
here, but in all worlds ; therefore, when his gospel in our earth 
shall have gotten the victory, it will not be required, in order that 
the promise in the sixth verse may be fulfilled, that Christ must 
be personally with his saints on the earth, but in his spiritual pre¬ 
sence only—the saints being in perfect agreement with his holi¬ 
ness and government, are therefore said, by the spirit of prophecy, 
to reign with Christ during that peculiar term, a thousand years. 
The opinion of the fathers, both Jewish and Christian, and oth¬ 
ers, that Jerusalem is again to be rebuilt in the time of the Milien- 
- -fiiuni, for the comfort and glory of the saints, is founded doubt¬ 
less on the 43th chapter of Ezekiel’s prophecy, to which the rea¬ 
der can refer. But this opinion will not bear the test of the most 
inferior criticism ; because the saints, during the Millennium, will 
have corporeal bodies as well as now, and therefore must occupy 
space. From which it is at once evident, that if the whole land 
of Palestine shall become one continued city for the accommo¬ 
dation of the saints, it will be found insufficient to contain them. 
The whole land of Judea, embracing the ancient grant of that 
country to Abraham, does not encompass a greater space than 
two hundred and fifty miles in length 1 by one hundred and fifty in 
width,'which space, if occupied as closely as the city of New- 
York, -would not be capable of containing a greater population 
tiian about five hundred and one millions. Ancient Palestine, if 
it were one' continued city, would be only about three thousand 
times'as large as ^New-York, vvliiclr is'but a little short of three 
miles by six, if it were- thrown Into a parallelogram form ; conse¬ 
quently would be as : incapable of containing all the saints in the 
Millennium as the city of ( London"would be of accommodating 
the population of the globe at the present time. 

If, then, -so great a city will be toe small to contain the saints* 
how will the ancient city of Jerusalem, even if it should be re- 
• built, contain them ? -Besides, how are they to be supported jf af 


INTRODUCTION. 


VH 

are assembled at one place ? who shall till the earth ? But in re¬ 
ference to the meaning of that chapter, to which the reader is re¬ 
ferred, as above, it is more rational to suppose, with Dr. Clark, 
and others of great eminence, who have written upon this subject 
before his Dime, that the whole description .given by Ezekiel 
should be understood as signifying the most glorious state of the 
Christian church over the inferior, glory *and darker dispensation of 
the Old Testament times. This sentiment certainly agrees better 
with the remark of Christ to the Samaritan woman at the well of 
Jacob, “ Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall nei¬ 
ther in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.” 
St. John. iv.£l. All that was embraced in the Mosaic sacrifices, 
the temple of Solomon, with its ceremonies,' were only descrip¬ 
tive of some good thing to come in the dispensations of the ex 
peeted Messiah. If the Jews are to be bronght in with the ful¬ 
ness of the Gentiles, what, therefore, can a Jew promise himself 
by returning to Jerusalem ? I confess I cannot see any ostensible 
reason. If the Mosaic dispensation be again restored, then there 
would be a reason for their return ; but it is a well known fact, that 
Jesus Christ has. made an end of all that first system of worship, 
which related wholly to the .higher revelation of the gospel. 

This the Jews will understand—-why, then, return to Jerusalem ? 
They will at o«ee<peroieve, - that to be a. true Jew, or Israelite, is 
to possess faith in “Christ,- and not because they are cf.a lineage of 
Abraham. If, then, they become Christian before they go, and 
acquiesce in the doctrine that'Jesus of Nazareth was the true 
Messiah foretold by the prophets, what value, therefore, can they 
set upon the land of Canaan above any other country ? At once 
they will percieve, that in this faith they have found Him of whom 
Moses and the prophets did write, which will answer every purpose 
far better than to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It is, indeed 
true, that the Je^s shall be brought in with the fulness of the Gen¬ 
tiles ; but where, or into-what, shall- theybbe brought ? Why into 
the faith of the gospel, and nothing else ? 

Again—if there is a time coming, w-he-n Christ, the true David, 
of whom David, the father of Solomon, was a type, shall reign 
king of nations in that peculiar sense: that, he does kingof saints; 
i then all the earth may be reckoned as the land of Israel, and the 
i inhabitants, the true Israelites (for then there will be none other) 




INTRODUCTION* 


Viii 

shall in spirit and in truth worship the Father in every place—so 
shall his will be clone on earth as it is done in heaven. If any can 
prove that there is a necessity that the Mosaic economy must be 
revived, that the Messiah’s kingdom may be facilitated on the 
earth, then we might, yea, ought to believe, that the Jews shall ' 
again rebuild theiraneient cities, and dwell in the mountains of 
Israel. But as we know that system, once glorious in its place, 
shall never be revived, so neither is there any reason why the Jews 
nAist again be restored to their country rather than to any other 
on the globe. "There is, however, a degree of probability, that 
if the Ottoman power shall be broken, and such government as 
may stand in their place should not oppose them, the Jews who 
dwell in the Turkish countries, may go to Jerusalem, because it is 
the land of their fathers. But if such shall be their disposition, 
and it is even accomplished, how is this to further their conver¬ 
sion to Christianity? It would, in mv opinion, rather retard than 
hasten it ; because a revival of the Mosaic laws,-with all its cere¬ 
monies, is the highest aim of the Jews in all the world. But if 
they recieve the gospel, >and accept of the Messiah of Nazareth 
in those countries where, they now are dwelling, their restoration 
will in this way be accomplished, and the prophecies fulfilled, 
which respect their return in a spiritual sense, w hen both Jew and 
Gentile shall by the gospel be changed to what the Saviour and St., 
Paul designated as the constituent qualifications of a real Israel¬ 
ite, or Jew. 

4th. Some Millenmmans have supposed, because Christ said on 
a certain occasion to his twelve disciples, that they should sit on 
twelve thrones judging the--twelve tribes of Israel, that the Apos¬ 
tles shall thussit judging the twelve tribes of Israel during the Mil¬ 
lennium. See Matth.* 19,128. “ And Jesus said unto them, Ve¬ 

rily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regene¬ 
ration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, 
ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of 
Israel.” 

Their arguments-are, that the Apostles never on the earth en¬ 
joyed that promise, and must, therefore, sit on those thrones in 
the Millennium. But this surely is easily otherwise interpreted ; 
Tor observe, this was to take place when the Son of Man should 
,’fik in the throne of his glory. When, therefore, did he com- 




INTRODUCTION* 


11 


mence this sitting in the throne of his glory ? I answer, imme¬ 
diately after his ascension from earth to heaven. A few days on 
ly, therefore, had elapsed, when, after that event, the twelve 
Apostles ascended their promised thrones. 'But how?! answer, in 
the following manner: After the resurrection of our Lord, (see 
Luke 24, 49) he said to the twelve, “ But tarry ye in the city of 
Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power 'from on high.” This 
very power with which they were to be endowed, was accom¬ 
plished on them. when, on the day of Pentecost, after his ascen¬ 
sion, the Holy Ghost descended and sat on them in the form of 
cloven tongues of fire. This was their exaltation to the promised 
thrones, when they recieved power to preach the gospel under- 
standinghv which, till then, they had not fully comprehended 
This was their exaltation to the thrones of the Apostolic power,, 
to preach the gospel to every creature, to heal the sick, to raise the 
dead, in confirmation of it, and to establish a new system instead 
of the old. This was their exaltation to the twelve promised 
thrones, to have power to pull down the old system of Mosaic sa- 
-crilices, and now useless observances ; to confound the Jews in 
argument, as did St. Stephen, and to denounce judgment against 
them—thus judging the twelve tribes of Israel, because they re- 
iccted the true Messiah. 

5th. Some have thought that the judgment day is to take place 
at the end of the next century, or when the earth shall be 6000 
years old from the creation, and that afterwards the Millennium is 
to succeed. But certainly neither of these positions can be true ; 
because we have no warrant, either in reason or from the Scrip¬ 
tures, to believe, that Satan is to be loosed from his prison, and to 
trouble the saints after the judgment day. But that the Millenni¬ 
um shall transpire before the general judgment, there is abundant 
proof. See Rev. 20. 

6th. Others have supposed that all the righteous Jews, patriarchs 
and prophets, are to possess the land of Canaan after their resur¬ 
rection from the dead. They alledge, as a reason, that the ex¬ 
tent of the promised land was never possessed by them, and, 
therefore, must yet be literally fulfilled in the Millennium. But 
it appears to me, that land is of little worth to such as have tasted 
of the higher bliss of a heavenly state ; and further, the senti¬ 
ment would seem to compel the spirits of just men made perfect 


X 


INTRODUCTION- 


to an alarming retrograde of being, from a heavenly state back to 
an earthly one. 

7th. Some Millennarians have imagined that Elijah the pro¬ 
phet is yet to come, as a forerunner of the Messiah's second ad¬ 
vent. They disallow that John the Baptist was Elijah, because, 
say they, he did not do the work foretold of him by Malaehi, 

“ which was to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and 
the heart of the children to their/athers.” Mai. iv. 6. This work 
is supposed by them will be accomplished by the real Elijah, when 
he comes as a forerunner of the second advent of Christ. But 
that opinion lias its refutation in the assertion of Christ, who well 
knew whether John the Baptist was Elias or not. “ But I say unto 
you, that Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have 
done unto him whatsoever they listed.” Matth. xvii. 13. 

,8th. It has been supposed by some, that when the judgment day 
shall arrive, that it w ill continue a thousand years, and at the same . 
time the Millennium is to commence, and also to continue the 
.same length of time. But how can these two amazing eras in the 
destinies of the living and the dead, the holy and the unholy, be 
Jilended together ? It appears to me that such an arrangement 
would destroy the perfection of both a judgment day and a Mil¬ 
lennium—for the latter would necessarjly be mingled with the ter¬ 
rors and horrors of the former ; and, consequently, would have a 
mitigating effect, while the former would distress and disturb the 
mild influences of the latter ; sc that each would act on the other 
in a paralyzing manner, and render them totally nugatory as to 
effecting the purposes for which both are appointed, and in their 
proper and distinct places will surely take place. 

9th. An opinion has been entertained, that the symbolical ri¬ 
ver which Ezekiel saw in a vision issuing out from under the eas- ' 
tern gate of the temple, shall be fulfilled by the breaking forth of 
a literal river of very salubrious water in the country of Palestine, 
after the temple is rebuilt ; and is to have its commencement at 
that temple, and is to flow down through the desert country into 
the sea. This river, says, that opinion, is to furnish the inhabi¬ 
tants with fishes of the most excellent kinds, by its healing the 
ocean wherever it shall mix with that of the seas. But I believe 
the text, which is Ezekiel, chap. 47, verse 9, furnishes no ground 
for the supposition, that the fishes there alluded to are are such ££ 


INTRODUCTION. 


XI 


a literal ocean produces ; but as the ocean, or vast bodies of wa¬ 
ter, are taken to represent multitudes, nations and people, en- 
masse, so the mention of fishes in that verse signify individual per¬ 
sons, and the river itself represents the light of revelation from 
heaven during the four great dispensations, from Abraham till the 
end of the next century, which is four thousand years. See the 
Chart, and also the Second Division of this book, for a more en¬ 
larged view of that' significant river. 

10. Some Miilerfnarians have thought that the saints an dinar-- 
tyrs, at the time of the first resurrection, will arise from the dead 
and remain on the earth, for no higher purpose than to possess and 
exercise a secular dominion over the nations. I know of no 
Scripture which favours such an opinion, except the following : 
Rev. 5, 10. “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests ; 
and we shall reign on the earth.” But this I understand as spo¬ 
ken by way of anticipation, and contains a prophecy, that finally 
the Christian cause should triumph on the earth. And'further, it 
may signify that which every Christian knows to be a fact, namely, 
that when Christ, has set up his kingdom in the heart of a believer, 
that he is at once free from the reigning power of sin, and where¬ 
as he once was a slave to this monster, lie now has the victory, 
thronghrthe power of Him in whom he has believed ; therefore, 
of such an one it may be said, he reigns on the earth. But, I 
conclude, the verse alludes to the Millennial state, as anticipating 
its glories, but not as retaining the righteous dead after their re¬ 
surrection, to share In a state of things, though glorious for the 
time being, but infinitely short of the undescribed glory the saints 
shall possess after their resurrection, which will certainly unfit 
them for any degree of bliss tins side of heaven itself; but the 
saints, who, at the time of the first resurrection, are alive, are 
they who shall have this victory, and shall reign on the earth. 

There is another verse, which, at first sight, perhaps, might sug¬ 
gest the foregoing idea, namely, a reign of the righteous dead on 
the earth. See Rev. 20, latter clause of verse 4. “Neither had 
received his- mark upon their forehead, or in their hands; and 
they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” But in this 
we observe there is no promise that the righteous dead, of whom 
it is spoken, are to reign on the earth at all; but simply are to 
reign with Christ a thousand years and signifies, that while the liy 


xii INTRODUCTION-. 

ving saints on the earth are reigning in the Millennial state a thou¬ 
sand years, so they in heaven shall reign with Christ till the thoil^ 
sand years are finished, at which time the church below and above 
shall be for ever united in glory. 

Having given a variety of opinions concerning the Christian 
Millennium, of both ancient and modern times, I proceed to pre¬ 
sent the humble views of the author of this book. He does not 
attempt any explication of the prophecies, farther than such por¬ 
tions of the sacred word as strictly relate to the Millennium, and 
the period of its commencement, the manner of its introduc¬ 
tion, the consequences which will follow both its approach and 
consummation, as well as the glories and happiness of the saints 
during the interim of a thousand years. 

As I have said nothing particularly in this work respecting the 
great battle of Armageddon, as hinted at in Rev. 16 , 16 , “ And 
he gathered them together into a place, called, in the Hebrew 
tongue, Armageddon”—I will just observe, that it will probably 
consist of an universal civil war, occasioned by the diffusion of re¬ 
publican politics. The charins of popular government have smi¬ 
led from the face of America as from the face of an angel, and 
filled many countries with an unextinguishable desire to shake off 
all monarchical authority. Two vast parties already exist, and 
their interests consist in the one upholding the fancied rights of 
kings, while the other more righteously aims at revolution—which 
will not be brought about but by the pouring out of blood. The 
word “Armageddon” or “ chormahgedehon,” signifies a great 
destruction of armies gathered together for battle ; and when it 
shall be fought, it is not unreasonable to suppose truth will be the 
victor, when the subject shall be for ever at rest. 


THE REFECTED CHRIST!AH MXLLSNNFJM. 

—— 

FIRST DIVISION. 

The word Millennium—its meaning and sanctity. 


The thousand promised years we soon shall see, 

When earth in righteousness shall whelmed be— 

And men with heaven shall then familiar grow, 

When sighs and cries shall ever cease to flow. 

The word Millennium is descriptive of a lapse of 
centuries, consisting of ten, and is derived from its an¬ 
tecedent Millenary, or a thousand years. The word 
is not found in the Scriptures, but seems, by a unani¬ 
mous consent of the Churches from early ages, to have 
been, by way of anticipation, applied to that thousand 
years in which it is believed the Christ of God shall re¬ 
ally and positively be believed in by all nations of the 
earth. And that he shall reign triumphant, having sub¬ 
dued all opposition to His government, and destroyed 
all the works of the devil, a jubilee shall succeed, a 
holy sabbath, a rest of the globe, which has these thou¬ 
sands of years been torn in the tumultuous sea of the 
corruptions and depravity of men. Its sanctity shall 
consist in the total absence of all evil, both moral and 
natural. The evils which now afflict, shall not then be 
known at all. There shall not then be any wars; 

B 


14 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUMS 


strife among nations shall cease a thousand years. Ah 
evil passions, coveteousness cruelty, luxury, ambition, 
pride, vanity, wrath, self-will, haughtiness, treachery, 
eonceitedness, hatred, malice, envy—these shall not 
then exist. There shall be none poor, nor rich ; none 
sick, nor in affliction of any kind. There shall be no 
crying nor sighing, nor death, nor any that lack 
knowledge, such as heaven approves. The knowledge 
of this world, which is now mixed, in many instances, 
with much imperfection, yet is come at by intense ap¬ 
plication and slow degrees, which, however useful at 
the present time, are but so many proofs, that man is 
fallen, and benumbed by the paralyzing power of sin 
But then, he shall awake, shall be recovered from this 
opiate delirium, and shall possess knowledge by intui¬ 
tion, as Adam unquestionably did before his fall. A 
necessity for the administration of human government 
will be totally superseded by the effects of righteous¬ 
ness, which shall then cover the earth “ as the waters 
cover the face of the great deep.” Such, then, the sancti¬ 
ty of that day ; the great jubilee of heaven on earth ; the 
expectation of the Church, which is founded in the 
Scriptures of truth. In that inimitablepruyer which 
God our Saviour taught his disciples, this expectation 
is plainly recognized, inasmuch as he said, w hen ye 
pray, say “ Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed 
he thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on 
EARTH as it is done in Heaven.” Who will dispute 
but his will is done in heaven by every individual ; so 
we should pray, expect and believe it will be done on 
earth . If then it is possible, in the economy of grace. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 15 

*shat God’s will shall be done on earth as it is done in 
heaven , what may we not expect that is not glorious, 
happifying and divine ? If there is no sin in heaven, 
neither shall (here then be sin on earth—is there no 
death there, neither on earth—is there no poverty nor 
imbecility of intellect in heaven, then on earth there 
•shall be none, for these things are the effects of sin. 

Victory shall be obtained on the very ground where 
the adversary, for so many ages, has triumphed over 
the once perfect man. He shall be restored, there¬ 
fore, to his primitive happiness, in respect to the pres¬ 
ence or the approach of any evil. 

Anciently, before the time of the Messiah, the doc¬ 
trine of a resurrection of the human body was but ob¬ 
scurely understood or believed: a few only seem to 
have had a tolerable idea of such a thing ; but the Sav¬ 
iour demonstrated the fact. 

So in reference to a Millennium, as yet many see this 
thing as it were through a glass darkly ; but the power of 
Christ can, and will demonstrate, that he is able to 
accomplish it, as well as a resurrection of the human 
body. And there is not a doubt to be indulged, but 
he will commence the Millennium by a resurrection of 
all the dead in Christ, for it is written, they “ shall rise 
first,” and also, “ blessed and holy is he that hath part in 
the first resurrection.” But I forbear, at this stage of 
the subject, to enter farther into a view of the glories 
of that day, but shall, in the proper place, attempt to 
do so, which will more fully establish the expected 
sanctity and effects of that emancipating jubilee. 


SDOOND DIVISION, 


Wall show, that such a period was expected by the Prophets, the 
Jewish Rabbins and Doctors, as the grand ultimo of the Messi¬ 
ah’s reign on earth, and in all ages has been the expectation o 
the Christian Churches, as well as of Christendom at the pres¬ 
ent time, according to the Scripture promises. 

As from the bubbling fount on Eden’s plains, 

Four rivers pour’d their floods to the four winds— 

So once the Prophet saw, beneath the temple’s door, 

A broader river flow, and sweeter waters pour. 

This glorious and eventful day has been expected, 
noth of Jews and Christians, in every age since the 
days of Abraham, to whom was made a promise, that 
in his seed all the families of the earth should he 

blessed. 

There cannot well arise a doubt, but the prophet 
Ezekiel had a view of the increase of the Messiah’s 
kingdom, and of the Millennium , in his notable vision 
.of the temple, which he saw an angel measure, who 
has marked with great precision the progress of the 
knowledge of God in the earth, by the description he 
has given of it, under the similitude of water, or a 
great and flowing river, to which the grace of salva¬ 
tion is often compared in the Scriptures of truth. See 
Kev. xxii, 1, 2. where the same idea is corroborated, 
“ And he showed me a pure river of water of life, 
clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God 


V 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


17 


_ &nd of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and 
on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, 
which bare twelve manner of fruits, and which yielded 
her fruit every month : and the leaves of the tree were 
for the healing of the nations.’* This last idea of the 
verse (the healing of the nations) establishes the fact, 
that this river relates to the earth, and not to eternity, 
as some suppose. 

I will give the quotation verbatim, from Ezekiel 
47th Chap, from the 1st to the 8th verse inclusive, 
upon which I build the sentiment, that this view which 
he had in the vision, of the waters coming out from 
under the eastern gate of the temple, has a definite 
allusion to the kingdom of the Messiah, and the pro¬ 
gress of a knowledge of his salvation, in both the Jew¬ 
ish and Christian Churches. 

Verse 1st.—“ Afterward he brought me again un¬ 
to the door of the house ; and, behold, waters issued 
out from under the threshold of the house eastward : for 

s 

the fore-front of the house stood toward the east, and 
the waters came down from under, from the right side 
of the house, at the south side of the altar. 

Verse 2d.—“ Then brought lie me out of the way 
of the gate northward, and led me about the way 
without unto the outer gate by the way that looketh 
eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the 
.right side. 

Verse 3d.—“ And when the man that had the line 
m his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thou¬ 
sand cubits, and he brought me through the waters;; 
ithe waters were to the ancles. 

: B* 


\ 


18 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

Verse 4th.—“ Again he measured a thousand, anil 
brought me through the waters ; the waters were to 
the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought 
me through ; the waters were to the loins. 

Verse 5th.—■“ Afterward he measured a thousand ; 
and it was a river that I could not pass over ; for the 
waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river tha 
could not be passed over. 

Verse 6th.—“ And he said unto me, Son of man 
hast thou seen this ? Then he brought me, and caus 
ed me to return to the brink of the river. 

Verse 7th.—Now, when I had returned, behold, 
at the bank of the river were very many trees on the 
one side and on the other. 

Verse 8th.—“ Then said he unto me, These waters 
issue out toward the east country, and go down into 
the desert, and go into the sea ; which being brough 
forth into the sea, the "waters shall be healed.” 

The first discovery of these waters by the prophet 
was under the threshold of the eastern gate of the tem 
pie, from whence they gently issued, which are to be 
understood as referring to what God revealed to Abra¬ 
ham concerning the way of salvation, when he thrust 
him out from the house of his father, Terah, the Syr¬ 
ian, to go, he knew not whither. 

/ 

“Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee 
out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from 
thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: 
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will 
bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shak 
be a blessing.”—Gen. xii, 1. 2L 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 19 

To these promises, therefore,- the issuing of this 
gentle stream of water from under the gate of the 
temple refers; and also to the promise made to the wo¬ 
man, that of her seed there should arise one who 
would bruise the serpent’s head, which promise is now 
renewed to Abraham, that in him shall all the families 
of the earth be blessed. . } 

The vision of this temple and waters, is a symbol o f 
that plan of salvation, which none but the great God 
could build ; and comprehends at a glance, the law, the 
sacrifices, and the Gospel, with its concomitant glory 
and final spread over the globe. 

The angel, therefore, when he began his measure¬ 
ment, had his eye lived on Abraham, and those promi¬ 
ses of God, as being the threshold, or door of hope, 
from whence he began to measure this river of life. 

The angel who show ed these things to the prophet, 
had in his hand a measuring line, and measured from 
the threshold of the gate, along the course of the stream 
a thousand cubits , at the end of which the waters were 
found as deep as to the ancles. 

From this place he again measured a thousand cu 
bits, at the end of which, the waters were as deep as to 
the knees. 

From thence, he again measured a thousand cubits 
aud the waters w r ere as deep as to the loins. 

And from this he continued to measure another thou¬ 
sand cubits, at the end of which the waters had be¬ 
come a great river , in which one might swim, but too 
wide to pass over. 

From this place the river continued its course, awd 


* -20 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


passed down in the desert, and from thence into the 
sea, whose waters shall be healed, thereby causing a 
great multitude of fish to be brought forth. 

The sea here mentioned, is a symbol of nations, 
multitudes and tongues. 

See Rev. xvii, 15.—“ And he saith untome, The 
waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are 
peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues 
who shall be the subjects of the healing power of these 
waters, whose numbers and extent of country are com¬ 
pared to a sea or an ocean, covering the whole earth; 
for, observe, it is too great, and too wide, and too 
deep, to be passed over at all. 

In attempting to give an exposition of those verses, 
which inform us of the conduct of the angel, who 
measured with a line this river, by cubits, a thousand 
at a time, 1 shall assume the positions of adapting 
the measurement of this river to the measurement of 
time, as referring to distinct dispensations of God’s 
providence, in revealing, from time to time, and from 
age to age, to the Patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles, 
and to his Church, in every age, his purposes of grace 
in the earth. 

My desire in so doing is, to trace these waters, or 
this river, through the various periods of its measure** 
ment, to w here they are represented by the prophet, so 
enlarged and extended, as to present to the view of 
such as look for the coming of Christ on earth spiritu¬ 
ally, one universal ocean of His glory and holiness 
among men, which, when accomplished, is called the 
Millennium. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM.j 21 

From sacred chronology, it appears that Abraham, 
*he great Patriarch of the tribes of Judah and Is¬ 
rael, was born two thousand years (lacking four) be¬ 
fore Christ, and two thousand and eight years after the 
creation, (three hundred and fifty-two after the flood) 
which brings the life of Abraham half way between 
the creation and the advent of Jesus Christ. 

Inasmuch, therefore, as God begins with Abraham 
more fully to disclose his good purpose towards man 
than he had previously done, it becomes the prophet 
to view Abraham as the threshold of the gate of that 
temple, from under which the fountain of this river 
proceeds, and accordingly the angel commences to 
measure the river at that place, in company with the 
prophet. 

The method pursued to measure this very extraor¬ 
dinary river, which is noticed in many other parts of 
the Scriptures, is singular and interesting. It would 
seem this glorious angel laboured to impress the mind 
of the prophet, that as he had measured this river by 
cubits, so must be measured the several dispensations 
of the increase of the knowledge of God in the earth, 
till it shall become embosomed in the great sea of uni¬ 
versal holiness. These cubits canuot be understood 
to signify any thing else but years; a thousand cubits, 
therefore, mean a thousand years. And as illustrative 
of this opinion, we will notice, that the present mode 
of measuring latitudes and longitudes on the surface 
of the earth, to ascertain degrees and distances, is very 
similar to the way the angel adopted to measure that 
-river. His cubits were the symbols of years , as ouf 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 

minutes are the symbols of miles: and as seconds are 
*he integral parts of a minute , which by the astronomer 
is used as a symbol for a mile, so are inches the inte¬ 
gral parts of a cubit , which by the prophet is here 
nsed as a symbol for a year. 

The first measurement, therefore, of the first thou¬ 
sand cubits, is considered a grand symbol of a thou¬ 
sand years, and extends from Abraham to the building 
of the first temple at Jerusalem by Solomon, which 
was finished exactly at the end of three thousand years 
from the creation ; and is, therefore, a thousand years, 
lacking a mere fraction, from the birth of Abraham 
till this house was finished. 

During this thousand cubits or years, God gave to 
Abraham several glorious and gracious promises re¬ 
specting the Messiah, who should come into the world 
through his lineage. These promises were made to 
him by the everlasting God, through the medium ot 
supernatural vision. See Gen. xv. 12. “ And when 
the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abra¬ 
ham ; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon 
him.” And also at verses 17 and 18 it is said, “ And 
it came to pass, that, when the sun went dow n, and it 
was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning 
lamp that passed between those pieces. In that same 
day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham.” 

The Lord also, in a supernatural way, gave to Abra¬ 
ham a son, when both he and his wife were past the 
time of life, and also supernatu-rally preserved that son 
from death by the intervention of an angel’s voice, who 
cried from the air just above where he was bound on 
Mount Moriah to be slaiu and sacrificed. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM 1 . 23* 

And to Isaac, Jacob was given, to whom God also 
conversed in vision. See Gen. xxviii. 12, 13, 14..“ And 
he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth f 
,and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the 
ungels of God ascending and descending on it. And, 
behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the 
Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God o 
Isaac : the land whereon thou best, to thee will I give 
it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust 
of the earth ; and in thy seed shall all the families o * 
the earth be blessed.” - • 

And to Jacob was given the twelve patriarchs who 
went down into Egypt where Moses was born, and 
from thence the whole nation of the Jews, consisting 
of about three millions of souls, journeyed towards the 
country of the Canaanites. 

During this journey, the whole nation were carried 
as it were upon the wings of a great eagle; for God 
divided the Red Sea and let them pass over safe to the 
other shore. 

At this place also, the angel of the covenant stood 
between the two hosts in the form of a pillar of cloud. 
That side which looked towards the Egyptians, had the 
appearance of blackness or darkness, which involved 
their whole army in the shades of night. Rut that side 
which looked toward his people, the Jews, shone with 
the brilliancy of a lambent tlame, and gave them light 
till the morning rose, when it again assumed its cloudy 
aspect. 

From this sea, in the process of years they came to 
Mount Horeb, at which place the angel of the cove* 


24 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

iiant, who is Christ, came down on that Mount in great 
glory and with terrible thunderings, and gave his peo¬ 
ple a law of righteousness. 

A lapse of not many years after the giving of the 
law, Moses stood on the top of Mount Pisgali, and 
from thence he saw the promised land, the land of his 
forefathers. At this place he died, and was hid in a 
valley of the mountain. 

To him succeeded the government of Joshua, who 
led the armies of Israel from conquering to conquest, 
till all Canaan was subjected to his arms. 

To Joshua succeeded the government of the elders, 
who had known him, and to them that of the judges, 
till the time of Samuel, the prophet, who anointed 
Saul, a Benjamite, to be king over Israel. 

And next to Saul came David, the king, to whose 
throne Solomon was exalted: who built the first tem¬ 
ple, which Ezekiel in his vision saw spiritualized, when 
the angel measured the temple, and showed him the 
waters of salvation, which come out from under its 
eastern gate. 

Thus far has this descriptive and supernatural riv¬ 
er of revelation flowed, whose waters are found at the 
temple as deep as to the ancles. 

If the disciples of Christ, who, after being a long 
time with Him, who spake as never man spake, and 
had seen that he was raised from the dead after his cru¬ 
cifixion, and had heard the Saviour say, “ My kingdom 
is not of this world, n yet could say after all this, to 
their risen Lord, “ Wilt thou not at this time restore 
the kingdomi” Which question evinced extreme 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 




ignorance of the nature of the Messiah's kingdom. 1 
say, if such ignorance was manifest, even among the 
Saviour’s disciples, at that time , it may, therefore, 
with great propriety be said, that a knowledge of this 
river of life was only as deep as to the ancles , in the 
days of Solomon . 

Here, then, at Jerusalem, by the means of Solo¬ 
mon, did God build a house of prayer for his saints, 
and in the midst of opposing nations, establish the 
worship of himself; and here is finished the first meas¬ 
urement of the first thousand cubits or years. 

From this house and downward, these waters became 
more profluent: for, from the mouths of prophets and 
kings, flowed abundance of these healing waters ol 
revelation, who spake as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost. 

Thus by the angel is measured a second thousand 
cubits , or years , which, from the finishing of the tem¬ 
ple, brings this river to the advent of Christ, in the 
year of the world 4000, at which place, according to 
the prophet, the waters were only as deep as to the an¬ 
cles of a man. 

But some have supposed, that at this place, it should 
be considered, that this river of healing acquired its 
greatest magnitude and width. 

But not so; because its effects, as relates to the 
whole world, were then but partially commenced, nor 
were the days of miracles yet ceased, but continued 
three hundred years after, till the time that the Roman 
emperor, Constantine, became converted from heathen^ 
ism to the Gospel. 


C 


28 EXPECTED CimrSTIAtf MILLENMUM^ 

The history of the Church from Christ till Constats^ 
tine, famishes many wonderful accounts- of miracles 
being granted to confirm the character of Christianity 
in the view of a heathen world. On these accounts 
therefore, this river cannot be contemplated at the birth 
of Christ, such as Ezekiel saw it, in his vision, which 
was, at the time of the fourth measurement of the cu¬ 
bits, a great river, which could not be passed over, so 
wide it had spread its waters, in his view, through the 
nations of fallen men. 

But from the birth of Christ, at Bethlehem of Judea, 
these waters became more redundant; for, the minis¬ 
try of the Messiah, the calling of his disciples, his 
death, and resurrection from the dead, and ascension 
to glory, the gift of the Holy Ghost on the day o* 
Pentecost, and the subsequent preaching and success 
of the Gospel, by the Apostles, greatly enlarged the 
glory of this river of life. 

But its waters are.now more frequently stained with 
the blood of martyrs ; the Jews persecuted Christ, in 
his disciples, till God, in his holy wrath, cut them off 
by the Romans, and destroyed them, as a government, 
from among the nations. 

But from a knowledge obtained, that, in the siege 
of Jerusalem, by Titus, not one Christian lost his life ; 
on this account, the Gospel became more popular, 
and less persecuted, for a while, by which means it 
was preached in many countries with power and great 
success, and thus became a river as deep as to the 
loins of a man, and poured itself over many parts of 
(he Gentile nations. Asia Minor and Greece, the 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


2 ? 


continent and Isles of Europe, became its recipients, 
till the times of the dark ages, when the Roman Cath¬ 
olic superstitions covered and obscured the face of this 
river, as with Egytian darkness, for the space of a lit¬ 
tle more than four hundred years. In the days of Con¬ 
stantine the great, Emperor of Rome, and his immedi¬ 
ate successors, the Pagan religion of the Romish em¬ 
pire was abolished, and Christianity took its place. 
From those times, and downward, the system of Chris¬ 
tianity was more and more corrupted by the fooleries 
of a papal domination, till the year one thousand, 
at which time a total darkness, a universal eclipse of 
Gospel knowledge pervaded all countries. However, 
there were undoubtedly many who feared God in huin- 
bl*?4Vfe, such as the Moravians, and all along these 
ages, though but little known. 

From the time Constantine, the Roman Emperor, 
became a Christian, which was in the year A. V. 306, 
or a little before, we number a succession from Pope 
M&rcellus till Pope Sylvester 11. in the year A. D. 
1000, of one hundred and six Popes; among whom, 
in the year A. D. 851 was the famous female Pope, 
Joan, who filled the papal chair two years. Here, 
then, is a most frightful chasm in this rope of sand, 
which the spiders of the Roman Catholic Church 
have spun, called a legal succession, which they are ve¬ 
ry fond of climbing: and holding fast to this, they 
dangle about in the sunshine of the strange fire of their 
own kindling. 

Also, from the year 1000, till 1460, there are num¬ 
bered clown to Pope Pious II. seventy-two. And from 


28 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

him, till 1824, when the last Pope was elected, are for* 
ty-two more, making in all, from Constantine, two 
hundred and twenty Popes. 

From the birth of Christ, therefore, till the time o< 
the commencement of that great darkness, was the 
third thousand cubits , or years, according to the meas¬ 
urement of the angel, in Ezekiel’s vision. 

But as soon as these years of darkness were passed 
by’, and the mist and smoke of the bottomless pit were 
blown away by the winds of Heaven, this glorious riv¬ 
er was again seen to disembogue, from beneath those 
mountains of error and wickedness, with augmented 
force and majesty. 

About thi* time, (before the time of Luther) the 
Begirds and Lollards, of glorious memory, began 
to stir up some of the remaining sparks of the hallow¬ 
ed fire ; and travelling over several countries, discipled 
many to their opinions, sowing the good seed, which 
finally eventuated in the great reformation. This re¬ 
formation, to truth, under God, was first promo¬ 
ted by the following illustrious and ever memorable 
ministers of the new covenant. Methodius and 
Cyril, two Monks, or Ministers of the Greek Church, 
or, as it is expressed in the history, two Greek Monks. 
These were the founders of the Moravian Churches in 
Bohemia and Moravia, but were afterwards associated 


i with the followers of John Huss. History gives the 
account, that this people and Church in Bohemia, in the 
year 1459, made a settlement, at a certain place near 
Cehsia , a hilly, and undoubtedly wilderness country ; 
and that they there cast off all superstitious ceremo¬ 
nies* and w’orsbipDed God in primitive simplicity'. 


j 








T2XPECTED CTIRILTIAN MILLENNIUM^ 


20 


But the historian states, that the beginning cf 
his Church displeased the devil. They were, conse¬ 
quently, persecuted by the Romanists , and were com¬ 
pelled to disperse among the mountains, in the depths 
of winter. And in order to prevent themselves from 
oeing tracked in the snow by their persecutors, they 
used to walk one behind the other, and the hindermost 
of them to haul the bough of a tree along to obscure 
their track, It appears that this people were horribly 
persecuted and destroyed, and all their ministers taken 

Ts*0+ 

away, so that they were, in this respect, destitute. But 

they assembled at a place in the mountains, and there 

chose, by common suffrage, certain persons whom 

they called elders. This thing being done at the sev- 

' * 

eral places, those persons so<elected formed a synod, 
at a place in the wilderness, where they ordained eccle¬ 
siastical laws, by which they were to be governed. 

But the question arose, what shall we do for minis¬ 
ters ? but after debate it was resolved that they would 
inquire of the Lord, by casting the lot, whether a 
presbyter could ordain a presbyter without a bishop* 
And after seeking to the Lord, by prayer, fasting, and 
tears, they obtained, as they supposed, from Him, by 
scrutiny of the lot, a decision that it was lawful for a 
•presbyter to ordain presbyters, and thus secure to the 
next generation a Gospel ministry. Thus did the Mo¬ 
ravians, whose conduct proves, that their idea of suc¬ 
cession was not Ivy them esteemed as absolutely es¬ 
sential to constitute a legal ministry. 

It appears that these Moravians were a similar kind 
*cf Christians with the fValdenscs; for at this timv 

‘-£* 


30 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

they had in common council agreed to become joined 
with each other, and so become one Church; but 
were, by the papist’s persecutions, prevented at that 
time. The premeditated union appears to have been 
amicably desired by both the Moravians and Wal* 
denses. 

After these, came the famous WicklifFe, and next to 
him came Jerome of Prague, in 1414, and these, not 
long after, were followed by Martin Luther, who nas 
aided by the amiable and able Melancthon. And in 
1523, a Lutheran establishment was erected through¬ 
out a greater part of the German Empire, and the yoke 
of Rome broken off. 

But to these were added, in following years, Calvin, 
Erasmus, Cranmcr, Lambert, Coverdale, Hooper, Ro¬ 
gers, and a host of others, who are now in the heavens 
above, who aided in shaking off from the consciences 
of deceived men, the chains of hell, which had been, 
imposed by mercenary wretches, in the form of coun¬ 
cils, conclaves, and conventions. 

But by the labours, preaching, sufferings, and mar¬ 
tyrdoms of many, a great and effectual door was open¬ 
ed, through which this healing and saving river, pour¬ 
ed again its glorious and widening flood upon the na¬ 
tions. 

These, as so many commanders of as many fleets, 
rode sublimely upon the peiucid waters of this river of 
life, which was now become a river, in which thou¬ 
sands might swim ; waters which could not be passed ; 
which is, in fact, the very river that is now pouring its 
healing flood over all countries, at the present time, 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 31 

and is carrying its light, life and health, to these very 
desert places, seen of Ezekiel, in the vision, and heal¬ 
ing them of their vanities, and will eventually flow in¬ 
to the great sea of the Millennium, when righteousness 
shall cover the earth, as the waters do the great deep, 
and all the fishes , i. e. all the inhabitants of the earth 
shall be righteous. 

Here, the multitudes of the deep, their different spe¬ 
cies and kinds, are used by the prophet as symbols to 
represent the different kinds of men, who are distin¬ 
guished from each other by their stature, shape, com¬ 
plexion, language and manners. And as the great 
sea is the habitation of the former , according to their 
kinds, so is the dry land that of the latter, according 
to their kinds. Now, as an immense river, possessing 
salubrious qualities, of the highest possible degree, is 
here supposed as flowing into a vast ocean of stagnant 
and unhealthy waters, which is thereby healed and 
made more prolific, and the fishes of that ocean become 
better in consequence; therefore, such a supposed 
river is taken by the prophet as a symbol of the river 
of life, which he saw had begun to flow at Abraham? 
and from thence was enlarging, and would continue to 
enlarge, till its golden waves should finally dash over 
all the face of the globe, as once the great deluge over¬ 
whelmed it, and was, probably, a type of that event. 

Thus shall be healed, (agreeing with the symbol) all 

* 

nations whom these waters shall finally embrace, as the 
ocean does its fishes. To this sense, agrees the 10th 
verse of the 47th Chapter of Ezekiel, latter clause. 
f* Their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the 


32 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


fish of the great sea, exceeding manyso that what¬ 
ever description of men, with respect to stature, lan¬ 
guage, or manners, who may then exist, are eligible 
to the sanctifying effects of this water of salvation. So 
cried the Lord Jesus, when once at a feast of the Jews, 
“ If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink,” 
and again, “ The w*ter that I shall give him, shall be 
in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting 
life.” Thus we argue, that if a portion of this river 
shall be in the soul of each saint , “ a well of water 
springing up into everlasting life,” then indeed, there 
will exist the integral parts of a sea of righteousness, 
in all such as have part hi the Millennium. And as 
particles of water are the .integral parts of an ocean, 
when amalgamated together, so will be each individual 
saint, at that day, an integral part of that sea of right¬ 
eousness, which is to cover the globe, as the waters do 
the great deep. 

“And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liv- 
eth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come* 
shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude 
of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for 
they shall be heeled ; and every thing shall live whith¬ 
er the river cometh.”—Ez. xlvii. 9. 

And thus was finished the fourth measurement of the 
river, which was, from the beginning of those years of • 
darkness above noticed, and was found to be a thou¬ 
sand cubits, or years, from thence, to where these wa¬ 
ters became spread into many rivers, encompassing the 
'-whole earth with their glorious flood, as once the gener¬ 
al deluge covered the globe fifteen cubits and upwards^ 
abov*> all hills. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


33 


We have now followed the angel, and the prophet 
who saw this river measured, from the fountain to the 
sea, and believe it applies with great beauty and fit¬ 
ness to the four dispensations; namely, from Abraham 
to the finishing of the first temple by Solomon; from 
thence to the bir.tli of Christ; from Christ to the be¬ 
ginning of the dark ages; and from that period to the 
end of the next century, when the Millennium will com¬ 
mence ; which will exactly accomplish the four dispen¬ 
sations from Abraham till that time, so distinctly shown 
to the prophet, as comprehending four thousand cu¬ 
bits, or years. 

Having now presented the reader with the prophet’s 
views, which I presume to call his expectations of the 
universal glory and knowledge of the Messiah’s king¬ 
dom, I shall next proceed to adduce other evidence, 
that the Jews expected such a day, found in the wri¬ 
tings of their Rabbins, whose expectations of it seem 
very clear. 

13ut before I proceed with these, I shall notice the 
eleventh verse of the same Chapter, where the prophet 
Ezekiel has given his account of the above noticed riv¬ 
er. The verse is as follows: “ But the miry places 
thereof, and the marshes thereof, shall not be healed, 
they shall be given to salt." From which it is evident 
that Ezekiel saw, in his vision, that there would be 
some places wliither this great river should not flow, 
called marshes and miry places . This, at first sight, 
would seem an objection to the doctrine intended to 
be promulged in this work, namely, that the water o t 
the river of gospel life shall flow over the whole earth. 
This difficulty we proceed to remove. 


34 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


The promise is, that whithersoever the waters of 
this river shall come, every thing that liveth shall be 
healed : but where they do not flow, they will not heal. 
It is a well known fact, that Papal Rome is now, and 
has ever been, more impervious to the rays of true gos¬ 
pel light , than even the veriest heathen who have yet 
been visited. It is not contained in the promise of the 
healing effects of this river, that it shall at all flow over 
the miry and marshy places,-but it shall heal only where 
it shall come, and is received and believed in ; for faith 
is the only condition of salvation which is ever accom¬ 
panied with works corresponding. 

It is no argument that Papal Rome has at all receiv¬ 
ed the Gospel, because they are numbered among 
Christian nations, and the reason why is, because <hey 
have perverted its truths, and turned the grace of God 
into lasciviousness, by the numerous idle and abomina¬ 
ble inventions of that deluded people. 

Papal Rome, then, and its vile sanctuaries, are the 
miry and marshy places which shall not be healed, be¬ 
cause they do now steadfastly resist the light, by pre¬ 
venting the Scriptures having a free circulation among 
them; except in their own mutilated manner, and 
those in Latin. 

Heathen countries are found by the Scriptures, poor., 
blind, naked, and ignorant; therefore, they are eligi¬ 
ble to its teachings. 

Rut the Roman Catholics it finds already wise in 
their own conceits ; therefore, they remain blind and 
unhealed, because they say they see, and are in no 
need of additional light, nor of a physician. 


EXPECTED nmr^TfAN MIEEEXNirM. 

But if this river of life is t© envelope the whole 
•earth, and to extend its in licence to all the people, why 
then shall not these marshy places be healed ? how can 
this thing be, if all the people are to be righteous ? 

The mystery of these marshy places being given to 
salt , is to be explained as follows : 

In all ages, or rather in ancient times, it was a cus¬ 
tom with conquerors, when they had razed a city to-the 
ground, to sow it with salt, as a token of total and 
everlasting ruin* This custom is undoubtedly alluded 
to by the prophet, in this place, when he saw, in vision, 
these miry places given to salt* Papal Rome, must 
therefore be destroyed by the direct power of God, 
before the time of the Millennium shall come, which 
he shall cause to be effected by the agency of fire. 
Papal Rome, which? has ever been a sink of sin and a 
place of mire to all such as put their trust in her creeds 
and counsels, a place of stagnant marshes, diseased 
doctrines, and traditions of men. 

The celebrated Calmet, a Roman Catholic commen¬ 
tator on the Scriptures, makes this same verse to point 
out the Protestant cause, as the miry places foreseeir 
of Ezekiel. But this all Protestants know is false, be¬ 
cause by the fruit the tree is known. 

% 

It is perfectly natural, therefore, to apply them to 
Papal Rome, because they suit the symbol, which is 
mire and marshy places, in a striking manner. 

But they shall be given to salt, and never be healed', 
but destroyed. 

What else can be the meaning of the following Scrip 
lures, which by all protestant theologians are made t*» 


;3G EXPECTED CHRISTIAN’ MILLENNIUM* 

apply to Papal Rome. See Rev. xviii. 5, 6, 7, S, and 
0. “ For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God 

hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as 
she rewarded you, and double unto her double accor¬ 
ding to her works : in the cup which she bath filled, fill 
to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, 
and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow 
give her. Therefore shall her plagues come in one 
day, death, and mourning, and famine ; and she shall 
be utterly burned with fire : for strong is the Lord God 
who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who 
have committed fornication and lived deliciously with 
her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they 
shall see the smoke of her burning.” 

From which we may plainly understand, that the 
overthrow of the country where the Roman beast has 
his seat and throne, shall be burned with fire, after the 
manner of Sodom and Gomorrah. 

And as Abraham stood afar off and beheld the 
smoke of the whole country ascend up, so shall many 
at that day, stand afar off and lament the overthrow of 
that great city and country. 

This is also the sentiment of that truly great and 
good man, the Rev. David Simson, M. A. See his 
plea for religion, the new edition, printed IS 12, page 
160, as follows :—“ It is remarkable, that all the coun¬ 
try about the city of Rome, is a kind of bitumen, or 
pitchy substance. And in the year of our Lord 80, 
a fire burst out from beneath the ground, in the middle 
of the city, and burnt four of the principal temples, 
with the sacred buildings of the cnpitol. Italy is in- ’ 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 3? 

deed a store-house of fire. And when the 1260 years 
spoken of by St. John (see Rev. xi. 2d* and 3d.) shall 
be accomplished, Rome itself, with all its magnificence, 
will be absorbed into a lake of fixe , and sink into the 
sea, to rise no more for ever.” Here, then, instead of 
healing those marshy places, which for ages have poi¬ 
soned, with their noxious vapours, the atmosphere of 
common sense, and the more glorious atmosphere of a 
revelation from heaven, they are to be destroyed by 
fire at an earlier stage of time than the general judg 
ment. But my reader may here inquire, if such shall 
be the fact, how then are these miry and marshy places 
to be given to salt in token of their everlasting ruin. 
Thus I answer, a city among men, is generally a depot 
and repository of arms, and is called a strong hold on 
Chat account. Therefore, when the besiegers had over¬ 
come any such place, they anciently did, at some par- 
ticular times, sow the place of its foundation with salt. 
See Judges ix. 45.—“And Abimelech fought against 
the city all that da}*, and he took the city, and slew the 
people that were therein, and beat down the city and 
sowed it with salt.” 

From this custom, the prophet has borrowed the idea 
of those marshy and rnfry places being given to salt, 
but of a vastly different kind of salt from that used by 
men on any such occasion, which shall consist of litera* 
fire. 

Now, as those marshy places are supposed to be em¬ 
braced in the dark arcanum of the papal machinations 

* The Jews reckoned Invariably, 30 days to a month; the 42 months, there¬ 
fore. multiplied bv 30, will produce 1260 days or years. 

D 


38 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


at Rome, they are considered the city and strong hoki 
ot‘ devils. And since it is the great God who shall 
then light against them, and overthrow their city by 
fire, after the manner of Sodom, it was proper for the 
prophet to say, those marshy places shall be given to 
salt, and I will add, the salt of lire, because it is God, 
and not man, who shall be their conqueror. 

This sentiment is supported by our Lord. See 
Mark ix. 49.—“ For every one shall be salted with 
fire .” Upon these words, I have read the following 
comment:—“ Here may be seen the greatness, mul¬ 
tiplicity, and eternity of the pains of the damned. 
They suffer without being able to die ; they are burn¬ 
ed without being consumed ; they are sacrificed witli- 
out being sanctified; are salted with the fire of hell 
as eternal victims of Divine Justice. We must of 

necessity be sacrificed to God, after one way or other, 

> • 

in eternity ; and we have now the choice, either ot 
the unquenchable fire of his justice, or of the ever¬ 
lasting flame of his love.”— Clark, copied from 
sel. 

This I believe a just interpretation of the miry and 
marshy places, whirch shall not be healed, but shall 
be destroyed before the Millennium commences ; and 
can therefore be no objection to the universality of the 
waters of life, which the prophet saw flowing over the 
whole globe. 

But I resume the subject of proof, that the ancient 
Jews expected the Millennium. 

The following is an extract from the Rabbinical 
writings of the Jews, among which are found their 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


39 


account of the prophecies of Eldad and Medad, two of 
the seventy elders, who prophesied in the camp of Is¬ 
rael, in the presence of Moses. But of those two it 
is said, that they continued to prophesy when the oth¬ 
ers had ceased, which occasioned one of the young 
men to run to Moses and complain of what he thought 
was indecorous ; but was reproved by Moses, who 
said to the young man, “ Envicst thou for my sake ? 
Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets." 
Num. xi. 29. 

The Jewish Rabbin who has noticed the prophecies 
of Eldad and Medad, is Jonathan Ben Uziel, whose 
account is found in an ancient Jewish book, called the 
Jerusalem Targum. I will give his account at full 
length- as follows : 

“ And there were two men left in the camp, the name 
of one was Eldad, the name of the other was Medad ; 
on them the spirit of prophecy rested.” 

Eldad prophesied and said, “ Behold Moses the pro¬ 
phet, the scribe of Israel, shall be taken from this 
world, and Joshua the son of Nun, captain of the host, 
shall succeed him.” 

Medad prophesied and said, “ Behold quails shall 
arise out of the sea, and become a stumbling block 
to Israel.” 

Then they both prophesied together, and said, “ In 
the very end of time , Gog and Magog, and their 
army shall come up against Jerusalem, and they shall 
fall by the hand of king Messiah. Behold a king 
shall come up from the land of Magog, in the last 
days, and shall gather the kings together, and leaders 


40 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


clothed with armour, and all people shall obey 
them, and they shall wage war in the land of Israel 
against the children of the captivity ; but the hour ot 
lamentation has been long prepared for them, for they 
shall be slain by the dame of lire which proceeded! 
from under the throne of glory, and their dead car¬ 
casses shall fall on the mountains of the land of Israel, 
and all the wild beasts of the held, and the wild fowls 
of heaven, shall come and devour their carcasses ; and 
afterwards, all the dead of Israel shall rise again to 
life • and shall enjoy the delights prepared for them 
from the beginnings and shall receive the reivard of 
their ivories,” 

The conjoint prophecy of these two prophets, in 
reference to Gog and Magog , and their armies, w ho 
in the last days were to invade the country of Jerusa¬ 
lem, refers to the same thing with Ezekiel, though de¬ 
livered many hundred years before his time. This in¬ 
vasion was by Antiochusf about three hundred years af¬ 
ter Ezekiel bad prophesied of him. This prophet, 
and the two others, Eldad and Medad, agree almost 
exactly about the manner of their destruction. The 
two conjoint prophets state, that they shall fall by the 
band of king Messiah. This should be. understood of 
Christ, who by St. Paul is said to follow the Jews, 
(Cor. x. 4.) and guided them, and breathed upon them 
the spirit of courage in battle, as in the case of Judas 
Macabeus , who terribly overthrew the armies of Antio* 
chus; and hence, by the spirit of prophecy they said 
they shall fall by the band of king Messiah. And fur- 
Uier # they stated that they should be. destroyed 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


41 


slain by a flame of fire, which should proceed from un¬ 
der the throne of glory. This was said in reference 
to the signal manner in which they were destroyed. 
See Ezekiel xxxviii. 22 .—“ And 1 will plead against 
him with pestilence and with blood ; and l ivill rain 
upon him , and upon his bands , and upon the many peo¬ 
ple that are with him , an overflowing rain , and great 
hail stones , fire and brimstone Thunder with light¬ 
ning, mingled with the rain and great hail, is meant, 
undoubtedly, such as fell upon the Egyptians in then- 
plagues, which ran along on the ground. And their 
carcasses were to fall on the mountains of Israel , and 
all the wild fowls of heaven, with the wild beasts of the 
field, shall devour them. This was all literally fulfilled 
in the destruction of Antiochus , who attempted to de¬ 
stroy, root and brand), the Jews. He was called Gog, 
and his country Magog , and they fell on the mountains 
of Israel, by the hand of king Messiah , who employ¬ 
ed Judas Macabeus as the terrible instrument of the 
ruin of Gog and Magog, j v 

But these prophets extended their views further than 
this event, even till the time when all the dead of Israel 
shall rise again to life. Although the Jews have, at 
several times in the process of ages, been recovered 
from a captive state, from among their enemies, yet 
they have never had a time of peace and prosperity, of 
sufficient universality and duration, to warrant so strong 
a figure as the resurrection from the dead of all Israel. 
This view, therefore, extends to the time of the first 
resurrection spoken of by St. Paul and by St. John. 
See 1 Cor. xv. 23 j Thess. iv. 1G ; and Rev. xx. 5..— 




IT' 


*{ % 
ylvn 




e* 


42 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


This first resurrection I apprehend, as spoken of by 
those two prophets, and the thousand years of his (that 
is Christ’s) subsequent reign on the earth, as spoken of 
by St. John, should be considered, in a more emphatic 
sense, to be the days of the Messiah , than any other 
time since his advent. Because then this government 
will be universal and particular, and without any oppo¬ 
sition, for a thousand years. To this opinion, Rabbin 
Eliezer , one of the ancient Jewish doctors, agrees, by 
saying that in the house of Elias , the prophet, there 
w r as a tradition, that the righteous whom the holy bles¬ 
sed God should raise from the dead, should not return 
again unto the dust but for the space of a thousand 
years. And again, when the question was proposed 
among the Jewish Rabbins, how many the days of the 
Messiah should be, they answer, the days of the Mes¬ 
siah are a thousand years , and unquestionably refer to 
the same thousand years with St. John after the first 
resurrection, and agrees with the view of those two 
prophets. 

As to the validity of those prophets, 1 think there 
can be no doubt ; for the scriptures bear ample testi¬ 
mony to their veracity. We see that in the eleventh 
chapter of Numbers, their names are mentioned, and 
associated with the seventy elders who prophesied on 
that memorable occasion, and that the spirit of prophe- 
<7 rested on those two in a remarkable manner, for 
they were more zealous than their fellows, and continu¬ 
ed to speak when the others had ceased. 

We see that Eldad’s prophecy was fulfilled, which 
was, that Joshua should succeed Moses in the govern¬ 
ment of Israel.—Deut. xxxiv. 9. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 43 

Medad’s prophecy was also fulfilled, which was, that 
quails should arise out of the sea, and be a stumbling 
block to Israel.—Nuin. xi. 31, 32, 33. 

The reader will perceive, that the use I wish to make 
of Jonathan Ben Uziel’s account of Eldad and Me¬ 
dad’s prophecy, is to establish the fact, that the latter 
prophecies of those two prophets relate to king Messi¬ 
ah’s kingdom, or to the Millennium, and to the resur¬ 
rection of the just, at its commencement, and will as 
surely be fulfilled in their time, as were their prophe¬ 
cies respecting the exaltation of Joshua, and of the 
quails which became a stumbling block to Israel. 

We will now bring forward the testimony of another 
Jewish Rabbin, by whom we shall prove that the Mil¬ 
lennium was expected by the Jewish Church. 

This Rabbin’s name is Eliezer, the son of R. Jose, 
of Galilee, and his remarks are found in a Sanhedrim 
folio book, in which a question is found proposed, 
saying, how many are the days of the Messiah ? The 
answer is—There is, in the house of Elias, a tradition 
(and rani says to Timothy , Keep the traditions) that 
the righteous whom the holy blessed God shall raise 
from the dead, shall not return again to dust but for 
the space of a thousand YEARS, in which the holy 
blessed God shall renew the world. A plain intima¬ 
tion this, that the waters which Ezekiel saw in his vision 
shall not only heal all nations of their depraved na¬ 
tures, who are alive at the commencement of the Mil¬ 
lennium, but that also the world shall be renewed, i. e. 
-shall be delivered from all natural and moral evil, as it 
respects the saints during the thousand years of the 


44 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

days of the Messiah. But when all Israel shall arise, 
their tradition goes on to say, that they shall have wings 
like the wings of eagles, and shall fly above the waters. 

This view' of the Targum, respecting all Israel, who 
shall arise from the dead, and are to be capacitated 
with wings, and shall fly above the waters, is to be un¬ 
derstood of their belief in the resurrection of the right- 

% 

eous, to which St. Paul agrees, when he says to the 
Thess. iv. 16. ** For the Lord himself shall descend 
from heaven with a shout , with the voice of the arch¬ 
angel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in 
Christ shall rise first.” 

But they shall not return again to dust, but for the 
space of a thousand years; not that the Targum 
means that when the thousand years are finished they 
shall again return to dust, but that during that thou¬ 
sand years the earth shall be renewed to its original 
blessedness, and its inhabitants to original holiness . 

Indeed many of the prophets bear their testimony, 
some in a greater, and some in a less degree, to the 
same expectation. 

Thus vve see Moses recording, from the very mouth 
of the holy blessed God, “ But as truly as I live , 
all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the 
Lord.” —Num xiv. 21. 

How plainly does this signify, that, in the view' of 
Him who sees all things at a glance, a time should 
come, when a disordered earth should be filled with 
the healing healthful glory of the Lord. 

David, the sweet Psalmist king, seems frequently to 
anticipate the final universality of the Messiah’s king- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


4 5 


dom on the earth. “ Ask of me, and I shall give thee 
the heathen fop thine inheritance, and the uttermost 
parts of the earth for thy possession.”—Psalms ii. 8. 

u Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth 
is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the 
great king.”—Psalms xlviii. 2. 

“/Then shall the earth yield her increase, and God, 
even our God, shall bless us : God shall bless us, and 

all the ends of the earth shall fear him.”—Psalms 
lxvii. 6, 7. 


“ Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all na¬ 
tions shall serve him.”—-Psalms lixii. 11. 

“ And blessed be his glorious name forever, and let 
the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and 
amen.”—Psalms lxxii. 19. 

To Isaiah the prophet, the Lord has spoken plainly 
of the kingdom of his son. Many places in the book 
of his prophecy, declare that his government shall be 
from the rivers to the ends of the earth, and that all 
souls then on the earth shall come to have a saving 
knowledge of his grace. 

“ And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the 
mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in 
the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above 
all hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.”—Isa. ii. 2. 
From which nothing can be clearer, than that a time 
must arrive, as the zenith of what the Saviour began 
lo do (when he made to the woman her first promise, 
that her seed should bruise the serpent’s head, this 
shall b'e done,) when Satan shall be shut up in the 
bottomless pit, and a knowledge of the Lord conse* 




46 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM 


quently shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the 
face of the sea. At that time they shall have “ beat 
their sivords into plough-shares , and their spears into 
pruning hooks : nation shall not lift up sword against 
nation , neither shall they learn war any more” This 
then is the expectation of Isaiah, and should be th 
firm and certain expectation of all saints, who shall not 
then be disappointed; for then “ Violence shall no more 
be heard in thy land , wasting nor destruction within thy 
borders, but thou shalt call thy walls salvation , and 
thy gates praise. Thy people also , shall be all right¬ 
eous ; they shall inherit the land for ever. A little 
one shall become a thousand , and a small one a strong 
nation: 1 the Lord will hasten it in his time.” —Isa.' 
lx. IB, 21, 22. 

By the spirit of inspiration, the prophet Jeremiah 
looked beyond the sorrows of his countrymen, to whom 
was committed the oracles of truth, the first testament, 
and after whose name all saints are called Israelites, 
not because they are descended from the lineage of 
Abraham, but because they are the household of faith. 

The prophet, therefore, looks through the long vista 
of ages, to the time when Jerusalem, spirtual Jerusa¬ 
lem, Mount Zion, shall be built in the tops of the moun¬ 
tains, and all nations shall flow to it, which shall not 
like the temple, its glorious type, u be plucked up, 
nor thrown down any more forever.”—Jer. xxxi. 40. 
“ Therefore, they shall come and sing in the height of 
Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the 
iiord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the 
young of the flock, and of the herd j and their soul 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


4? 


shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not sorrow 
any more at all.”—Jer. xxxi. 12. 

The Jews, nor their country, nor yet their city, for 
glory and strength excelling all others, have ever yets 
arrived to any such state of happiness as spoken of 
above, by the* prophet Jeremiah; it is therefore un¬ 
doubtedly spoken of the times of the Millennium, 
when Jerusalem, in the spiritual sense, shall be built, 
and is called the New Jerusalem, which cannot be 
pulled down or overthrown, nor its inhabitants sorrow 
any more at all, strongly intimating that its citizens 
shall not suffer either from natural or moral evil, any 
more, as they formerly had, in the days of probation. 

The prophet Daniel is declared, in the scriptures, to 
be a man greatly beloved of heaven ; this was said to 
him by the angel Gabriel, at a time when he prayed 
and made his confession to God. And because he was 
beloved of the Most High, he was pleased to make 
known to him, in a vision of his sleep, the times which 
should pass over the nations of the globe, and also 
over the saints, how they must suffer from the tyranny 
of the beasts which he saw arise out of the sea, and 
strove together, which has actually come to pass in the 
several eras of time. But beyond all these, he saw* a 
more glorious vision, which cannot be understood oth¬ 
erwise than of the Millennium. “ I saw in the night 
visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came 
with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of 
days, and they brought him near before him. And 
there was given him dominion, and glory, and a king¬ 
dom, that all people, nations, and languages, should 


43 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


serve him : his dominion is an everlasting dominion, 
which shall not pass away, and his kingdom,that which 
shall not be destroyed. But the saints of the Most 
High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom 
for ever; even for ever and ever. And the kingdom 
and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom 
under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of 
the saints of the Most High.”—Dan.vii. 13,14,18,27. 

It is evident that this kingdom shall be on the earth 
in the latter days, (which are even at the door) because 
in the last quoted verse, are the words, “ under the 
whole heaven” and therefore, is qualified as belonging 
to the earth. 

From what has been advanced on the preceding pa¬ 
ges of the second division, I feel justified in believing, 
that the ancient Jewish Church did expect, that when 
the Messiah should come, he would finally involve 
the whole earth in his kingdom, and that peace and 
great glory should be the concomitants of his reign for 
one thousand years. But why the idea should obtain 
of so definite a term of years, in the early age of the 
Church, is deeply interesting; but we see the same 
doctrine taught by the holy St. John, who wrote as he 
received it from the angel of Jesus Christ. 

I shall next proceed to prove, under the same divis¬ 
ion, that the Christian Church have ever taught the 
expectation of a Millennium. 

St John, the Revelator, speaks of that great day, as 
a day in which Christ shall come to be admired of his 
saints, who shall then take the kingdom, and possess it 
for ever. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


4& 

In order to prove that the Christian Churches, in the 
days ot St. John, believed that a Millennium should 
come in the latter days, I have only to transcribe the 
seven first verses of the 20th Chapter of Revelation, 
which I proceed to do. 

Verse 1st.—“ And I saw an angel come down from 
heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a 
great chain in his hand. 

Verse 2d.—“ And he laid hold on the dragon, that 
old serpent, which is the devil and satan, and bound 
him a thousand years. 

Verse 3d.—“.And cast him into the bottomless pit, 
and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he 
should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand 
years should be fulfilled : and after that he must be 
loosed for a little season. 

Vei •se 4th.—“ And 1 saw thrones, and they that sat 
upon them ; and judgment was given unto them ; and 
I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the 
witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which 
had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither 
had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their 
hands ; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thou¬ 
sand years. 

Verse 5th.—“ But the rest of the dead lived not 
again until the thousand years were finished. This is 
the first resurrection.” 

Who can speak plainer than St. John does in those 
two last quoted verses ? stating, explicitly, that between, 
the resurrection of the righteous dead, and the result 
rection of the wicked dead, shall be a lapse of a thou-; 

E 




50 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. \ 

sand years, which is the Millennium contended for irr 
these pages. 

Verse 6th.—“ Blessed and holy is he that hath part 
in the first resurrection, for on such the second death 
hath no power ; but they shall be priests of God, and 
of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 

Verse 7th.—“ And when the thousand years arc ex¬ 
pired, saian shall be loosed out of his prisonA 

It is thought that these scriptures show, as clearly 
and as definitely as can be desired, that the primitive 
Church did expect the Millennium. 

Six times in the course of seven verses, has the Evan¬ 
gelist, in the most plain and emphatic manner, declar¬ 
ed that a certain thousand years shall come, when the 
great Shepherd of the sheep shall walk in their midst, 
and that his spiritual presence shall be with them a 
thousand years. This, therefore, is the Millennium 
which is to come. 

“ This doctrine of the reign of the saints after the de¬ 
struction of Antichrist, was the opinion of the whole 
orthodox Christian Church in the age immediately fol 
lowing the death of St. John, when Polycarp, and ma¬ 
ny of St. John’s disciples, were yet living, as is ex¬ 
pressly stated by Justin Martyr ; and is a testimony of 
sufficient strength to convince any who rely at all on 
the authority of antiquity, that this doctrine was believ¬ 
ed by the primitive Church, who unquestionably found¬ 
ed it upon Rev. xx. from the 1st verse to the 7th, inclu¬ 
sive.”— Second Advent, page 503. 

The Christian Churches have, in succeeding ages, 
held the doctrine ; many able theologians and fathers 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 51 

liave maintained the opinion ; and at the present time 
the expectation pervades Christendom ; and every in¬ 
dividual bosom possessing 1 any share of scripture know¬ 
ledge, and regarding it as truth , expects the promised 
Millennium. 

i The heathen also, of many countries, anciently en¬ 
tertained opinions equivalent to this, who were doubt¬ 
less indebted to the Patriarchs and Prophets from Noah 
and downward, for their ideas, though vastly adultera¬ 
ted with their own fancies by some of them. > * 

A description of the changes which await the earth, 
are very clearly hinted at by Plato. In the end, he 
states, the world shall be plunged into an eternal abyss 
of confusion, but God, he says, will again appear, and 
resume the reins of the empire, and restore order. Is 
not the new creation here hinted at, though obscurely, 
by this great philosopher ? See Rev. xxi. 5. “ Behold 
I make all tilings new.” / 

Virgil has expressed an opinion, which, in the ag¬ 
gregate, agrees with the opinion of this book as it re¬ 
spects the Millennium. He says, A child of a supe¬ 
rior order is soon to descend h om heaven to earth ; 
and at his birth the iron age will cease, and the golden 
age be restored ; crimes will be banished, and the 
world shall be delivered from all its fears, and become 
fruitful as at first, and produce every thing everywhere. 

Seneca declares a sentiment, which seems to favour 
the opinion, that before the Millennium, (as contended 
in this work) all sinners shall be destroyed, to prepare 
its way. He says, “ Haste and come, last and great 
day, when the heavens shall fall into confusion, and 


< b2 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

their ruins crash tlie impious set of men, so that a bet-* 
ler race may arise ; such as they were heretofore, when 
Saturn reigned over the beginning of the world.” 
Here is a hint at the state in which our first parents 
existed, before they fell by sin, and were banished 
from Eden. 

The Chinese ancient books have an account, that an 
extraordinary person, called by them the Saint , or sec-* 
onclperson in the trinity , is to reign, and in his king¬ 
dom he will not allow any wicked men to be there, 
but they must be banished into the dark abodes of 
beasts and monsters, leaving none to be the subjects 
of his kingdom but heavenly and upright people. 

Plutarch says, that the Persian Magi hold, that 
there will come a time when Arimanius, the evil spirit, 
or satan, will be banished from the earth, when it 
shall, therefore, become beautiful, when men shall be 
happy and their abodes become transparent, and shall 
all have the same life, language and government. 
Thus it is plain, that from very early ages, the expecta¬ 
tion prevailed, that a better state of things w as finally 
to succeed this bad state, so acknowledged to be by all. 
Yes, even Infidels. 

Having shown that the Prophets, the Jewish Rab¬ 
bins and Doctors, the ancient Christian Church and 
fathers, and even the very heathen, have expected the 
Millennium, I now proceed to exhibit the signs of 
the times which went before the flood, and before the 
coming of Christ, and also the signs of our own times, 
svhich denote the Millennium nigh its commencement* 


i 


' . sgr <• 

f • - V • 

THIRD U2V2SI01T. 

Oar rvext endeavour shall be, to give a view of the signs c/ the 
times which preceded the great deluge and the birth of Christ—■ 
and an account of Herod the great, who put to death the in¬ 
fants of Jerusalem. Also, a minute description of the Ark, and 
the animals saved in it—prov ing it .amply sufficient to contain 
all the Scriptures state it did. 

—**•©•♦**• 

Before the whelming flood, when Enoch liv’d, 

God signifi’dby signs, his spirit griev’d— 

So from his glorious Heav’n where now he reigns, 

He show'd the coming Christby mystic signs. 


The reason why a view of those times are present¬ 
ed to the reader, is to prepare the mind for a view of 
the signs of our own times, which signify the Millen¬ 
nium nigh its coming. 

The signs of the times, which were eminently calcu¬ 
lated to arouse the antediluvians to the expectation of 
severe judgments, to be poured out upon them, was, in 
the first place their own great wickedness, corruption 
and violence. Of these things they were reproved and 
threatened by Enoch, the first prophet, who was the 
seventh from Adam, and was translated from earth to 
heaven by the miraculous power of God. We have in 
St. Jude, an account of his manner of reproof, which 
strongly indicates that those times were highly fraught 
with fearful forebodings, that great wrath was in wait- 
ing for those abominable nations who had so tho¬ 
roughly corrupted their ways in the earth. 

E* 


4 



i>4 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


The manner in which he communicated his reproofs 
of their doings, was, no doubt, at their public assem¬ 
blies of riot, confusion and idolatrous worship ; where 
he, in some commanding situation, harangued and 
fore-warned them of impending judgments, and said, 
u The Lord comeih with ten thousand of his saints , 
i to execute judgment upon all , for their ungodly 
speeches , which they have spoken against Him :” name¬ 
ly, against the Lord God of Adam . For there is 
scarcely a doubt, but they constantly reproached and 
♦eviled his name, for what they might erroniously 
esteem severe in his conduct toward Adam and Eve, 
'because he drove them out from Eden, for their sin. 

The local situation of Eden, was, most certainly, 
well known to the antediluvians, for they must have 
frequently conversed with their great progenitor, Adam, 
concerning it, who had informed them of its delights ; 
which might have inflamed them with a spirit of cov¬ 
etousness to possess it again ; but this being impossible, 
-they raged against the Lord, and spake injurious 
words against him on that account. 

Of their works, therefore, the holy Enoch reproved 
4hem, and perhaps told them, that if God had so se¬ 
verely judged Adam, they might not expect to escape 
some signal punishment. 

At which rebukes they were, unquestionably, enra¬ 
ged, and no doubt proceeded to lay violent hands upon 
^Inm, to take away his life ; but in the midst of their 
-fury, God caught him tip from their sight. 

He v as a man in the prime of life, being three hum 
fhtfd and sixty-five years old when he was translated; 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


53 


out had walked with God three hundred years, conse¬ 
quently, was born again at the age of sixty-five. 

This holy man, who had been among them a preach¬ 
er of righteousness, as Noah was, in after years, was 
no doubt translated in open sight, as was Elijah, near 
the fords of Jordan* 

This circumstance should therefore have been recei¬ 
ved of them, as an evident sign, that God sanctioned 
Enoch, and consequently condemned them. 

J3ut what avails the signs of Heaven with the un¬ 
godly—the translation of Enoch should have been to 
them as a voice from the Eternal, informing them 
that they were in imminent danger, since God had so 
suddenly and miraculously removed that good man 
from among them. 

Not many years after the translation of Enoch, there 
was given to the antediluvians another sign from Hea¬ 
ven, which was the preaching of Noah, who declared 
to them that God had determined to destroy the earth 
by water ; for God had said to Noah, “ The end of all 
flesh is come before me, for the earth is filed with 
violence; and, behold, I will destroy them with the 
earth' 1 

This surely was a novel doctrine, which was by no 
means worthy of the attention of the wise ones of that 
day, who, probably, began to philosophize upon the 
subject, and to say, how can this thing be, since the 
waters every where cleave to the lower parts of the 
earth, and cannot, therefore, climb the hills, and from 
thence overflow the globe. 

, Neither is there water sufficient in the clouds of 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


ven, if every drop were drained, to flood a globe like 
this: they were not willing to suppose, that God, who 
out of nothing made the globe with all its seas, could 
as easily create an addition of water, sufficient to drown 
the world. 

And again, why should he do so? they might say; 
-surely we have done nothing to offend him—he is far 
from us, and cares not what we do—it is beneath the 
notice of a God. But .if he does, how can he find 
fault ? are we not as he would have us ? did he not 
create us ? we have done only as we listed, and acted 
in accordance w ith the passions he implanted in us him¬ 
self—therefore, he must be pleased, instead of being 
offended with us, when we live as we list. 

There are many of the same sect at the present day, 
who do not wish to confess that they are fallen from 
original innocence, who will, if they continue in that 
ffital error, fall into-, not a flood of w 7 ater, but of fire, 
according to the Scriptures. 

Therefore, Noah and his preaching were rejected, 
who no doubt, notwithstanding, took all opportunities 
to reform them, and to bring them to repentance, as 
Enoch had done before him, but without success. 

The people of that age, are they to w hom Christ 
preached by Noah, in spirit, while they were in prison ; 
which prison is to be understood as relating to the fact, 
that they were under condemnation ; for God had said, 
“T7ie end of all flesh is come before me.” And the one 
hundred and twenty years in which Noah was building 
the Ark, is to be considered only as a respite of their 
sifv.es from immediate death ; therefore, during this time. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 57 

they are spoken of as prisoners, or spirits in prison, and 
under the divine arrest. This idea is beautifully cor¬ 
roborated in Genesis, where it is written “ My spirit 
shall not always strive ivith man , for as much as he is 
fcsh, yet Ins days shall be an hundred and twenty 
years .”—Gen. vi. 3, in which Christ, by his spirit, in 
Noah preached repentance to those nations, precisely 
as Christ, by his spirit, preaches, to the people by his 
ministers at the present day. 

The strange news, concerning a man, whose name' 
was Noah, had probably spread fir and near, that he 
was, in fact, building a large vessel upon dry land, to 
save himself and family from drowning, excited, no 
doubt, a general curiosity to visit so strange a person, 
and to see his vessel, and to converse with him about 
it, aud io ridicule his work of needless precaution. 

Upon this principle, it is reasonable to suppose, that 
immense assemblies, from time to time, visited him du 
ring the one hundred and twenty years, at which op¬ 
portunities this great preacher of righteousness endea¬ 
voured to convince them of their sins, and assured them 
that he was not building this vast vessel but at the ex¬ 
press command of God, for the saving of his house 
and every species of beasts, that the earth should not 
be desolated when the food should be dried up. 

In this way, therefore, they were all warned of their 
danger, for God is just, and gives to every soul time 
and opportunity, according to his day and ability, to 
secure a place at his right hand. 

But suppose the antideluvians had all repented, or a 
half of them only, at the preaching of Noah, then 


£8 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

God would not have drowned the world, but would 
have saved them from that destruction, as he did the 
great city of Nineveh,when they repented at the preach¬ 
ing of Jonah, though lie had said, in an unqualified 
manner, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be over¬ 
thrown the threatenings and promises of God, rela¬ 
ting to men, are always to be understood as condition - 
al, while man is a 'probationer. 

But the building of the Ark continued to progress, 
and the time drew nigh when the prophecies of this 
singular character were to be fulfilled, to his honour 
and everlasting renown ; or to fall to the ground, to his 
great shame and confusion. 

No doubt, he had suffered abundance of ridicule, 

i- 

for his strange preaching and his stranger work, and 
perhaps, added to that, persecution, for they of his ge¬ 
neration were a violent race of rebels against God ; 
and had not his special providence protected the Ark, 
it is very probable they would have burned it, as often 
t as Noah, with all his power, could have built it. 

The Ark at length was finished, and six days were 
allowed to Noah and his family to remove into it, and 
to bring the several kinds of animals, and put them in 
their places, and to store away food for man and beast, 
for on the seventh, God would pour out his rains from 
Heaven, for God had said, “ Yet seven days, and 1 
will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and for - 
ty nights , and every Living substance that 1 have made 
will I destroy from off the face of the earth ”—Gen, 
vii. 3. 

How wonderful a sign was this—the huge vehicle 



Expected Christian millennium. 

stood finished in their sight, when from the hills and 
fields came all beasts with fowls, by sevens and by pairs, 
male and female, voluntarily to the Ark, and went in 
last of all, Noah and his fiuni’ly went in, and God, by 
his invisible hand, shut and fastened the door ! 

Perhaps at this juncture, there were gathered to¬ 
gether immense multitudes, to see the strange spectacle 
of a man’s shutting himself up on dry land, to keep 
from drowning. 

But while tliey mocking and wondering stood, to 
see from whence a flood should come, far in the south 
black clouds began to rise and scud along the heavens 
in frightful haste. 

From the north, and from every point of the four 
winds, it was evident a dreadful storm was gathering 
unusual thunders began to rive the heavens, and terri¬ 
fying lightnings to flash around ; anon, the rains began 
to pour, the earth to tremble, the sea to spout it3 wa¬ 
ters in. tall cataracts to the stormy skies, through the. 
opening fissures of regions sinking to the depths be¬ 
neath. 

But it is probable, the millions of those countrie# 
thought this storm of no long continuance, but would 
be soon assuaged, as other storms had always been. 
But after several days of continual storm, and anxious 
expectation that the rain would cease, their hopes be¬ 
gan to fiiil them, and horrors, instead of hope, pos¬ 
sessed their souls, lest the fatal prophecy of the vener¬ 
able Noah was indeed fulfilling. But there stood the 
steadfast Ark in its place—the waters already risen 
and involved its keel—every where the flood increased 


f>0 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN' MILLENNIUM* 


with hastening fury—tlie vallics, it was evident, were 
fast filling-—from the hills, whole rivers began to pour, 
bearing the earth, in many places, with trees and all 
their load, with roaring fury, to the vales beneath*; 
Now, terrors began to seize their unbelieving souls, 
and fearful forebodings to shake their self-begotten 
confidence, while they fled from their houses, or their 
tents, in all the country where they dwelt, to the near¬ 
est hills or mountains. But still the flood pursued, 
and in awful haste climbed up their sides, enveloping 
the tallest trees beneath in a deep of dreary waters. 
As far as the eye could reach, nothing but one extend¬ 
ed inundation could be seen: houses, with all the 
works of man, lay floating on its rippling tide, with 
beasts of every kind struggling in the waves with 
mighty death. 

Far from the former haunts of man, on the moun¬ 
tains’ rough and rugged sides, were seen crowds of 
men, with feeble women and children, climbing up, 
disputing as they scrambled through the tangled woods; 
whole droves of fleeing beasts, that bit and tore them 
as they fled, each aiming at the highest point of land, 
to save the precious life. 

Oh, what a sight was this to pitying angels, and to 
suffering men, that while they climbed, the weaker fell 
behind, worn down with the descending storm, they 
fall and roil downward to the black waves beneath, or 
sit in dead despair, till the unpityi 8 flood engulfs 
them in its foam. But here, there is none should 
doubt, though mercy was denied the body, yet to the 
soul that sweetest bahn was given, to all that mercy 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 6T 

sought, and bewailed their sins. But soon the highest 
hills we) e sunk beneath the flood ; the race of man was 
extinct, except the eight who now outrode the prevail¬ 
ing waters, safe in the wondrous ark, the labour of 
more than a hundred years, and perhaps of more than 
.1 hundred men ; a history of which we shall now give. 
See Clarice's Commentary . 

When God said to Noah, make thee an Ark of go¬ 
pher wood. And this is the fashion which thou slialt 
make it of. *1 he length of the Ark shall be three hun¬ 
dred cubits, which is five hundred and forty-seven feet: 
let it be remembered that the ancient cubit was nearly 
twenty-two inches, which was ascertained by Mr. 
Greaves, who travelled into Greece, Palestine and 
Egypt, in order to be able to ascertain the weights, 
monies and measures of antiquity. 

Its length, therefore, was five hundred and forty- 
seven feet. The breadth of it fifty cubits, which is 
ninety-one feet two inches. And the height of it thir¬ 
ty cubits, which is fifty-four feet eight inches. 

It is plain enough, therefore, that this vast vessel was 
amply large to contain all beasts and men, said to have 
been in it; and also, to contain food for them in abun¬ 
dance for more than twelve months. 

Dr. Arbuthnot computes this vessel at eighty-one 
thousand and sixty-two tons burthen, 

A history of the Ark, as given in the Scriptures, r 
of its containing every thing of all flesh, two of every 
sort, and food sufficient for their subsistence for a year., ^ 
has been made an objection to the truth of the Mosaic 
history.—Gen. vi. 19. But to obviate this objectjon> 

F 


c t 


62 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNTOT. 


perhaps I cannot do better than to introduce, In this 
place, the following observations on the subject. 
t At the first view r , the number of animals may appear 
so immense, that no place but the forest could be 
thought large enough to contain them. li, however, 
we come to a close calculation, the number of the dif¬ 
ferent kinds of animals will be found much Jess than is 
general.y irnagined. 

Naturalists have divided the whole system of zoology 
into classes and orders, containing genera and species. 

There are six classes thus denominated. 1. Mam¬ 
malia. 2. Aves. 3. Amphibia. 4. Pices. 5. In- 
sectse ; and 6. Vermes. With the three last of these, 
viz. fishes, insects and worms, the question can have 
nothing to do. 

The first class, Mammalia, or animals with teats, 
contain seven orders, and only forty-three genera, i* 
we except the seventh order, i. e. all the whale kind, 
which certainly need not come into this account. The 
different species in this class amount (the whale kind 
excluded) to five hundred and forty-three. 

The second class, Aves, or birds, contains six orders, 
and only seventy-four genera, if we exclude the third 
order, Anseres, or web-footed fowls, all of which 
could very well live in the water. The different spe¬ 
cies in this class, the Anseres excepted, amount to two 
thousand three hundred and seventy-two. 

The third, Amphibia, are only two orders, reptiles 
and serpents. These comprehend only ten genera, 
and three hundred and sixty-six species ; but of rep¬ 
tiles, many could live in the water, such as the tortoise, 


/ 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


63 


frog, See. Of the former, there are thirty-three spe¬ 
cies; of the latter seventy. 

The whole of these, therefore, of such as were sa¬ 
ved in the Ark, would occupy but little room in that 
huge vessel : a small portion of earth, in the hold, 
would be quite sufficient for their accommodation. 

Bishop Wilkins, who has written largely, and with 
his usual accuracy on this subject, supposes that quad^ 
rupeds do not amount to one hundred different kinds, 
nor birds which could not live in the water, to two hun¬ 
dred. Of quadrupeds, he shows that only seventy- 
two species needed a place in the Ark, and the birds 
he divides into nine classes, including in the whole one 
hundred and ninety-five kinds, from which all the w r eb- 
footed should be deducted, as these could live in the 
water. He computes all the carniverous animals equiv¬ 
alent, as to the bulk of their bodies and food, to twen¬ 
ty-seven wolves; and all the rest to one hundred and 
eighty oxen. For the former he allows one thousand 
eight hundred and twenty-five sheep for their annual 
consumption; and for the latter, one hundred and 
nine thousand five hundred cubits of hay. These an¬ 
imals and their food will be easily contained in the 

%f 

two first stories, and much room to spare. As to the 
third story, no person can doubt of its being sufficient 
for the fowls, and Noah, with his family. One sheep 
a day, he judges w ill be sufficient for six wolves ; and 
one square cubit of hay, which contains forty-one 
pounds, as ordinarily pressed in our ricks, will be am¬ 
ply sufficient for one ox a day. 

When the quantity of room which animals and their 


*64 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 

food required for one year, is compared with the ca ' 
pacity of the Ark, we should be led to conclude, with 
the learned Bishop, that of the two it is more difficult 
to assign a number and bulk of necessary things to an¬ 
swer the capacity of the Ark, than to find sufficient 
room for the several species of animals and food al¬ 
ready known to have been there. But there is no 
doubt there was more than sufficient room, which con¬ 
duced to health by a free circulation of air through the 
several apartments of the Ark. The most expert math¬ 
ematicians of the day, and the Bishop was one of the 
first in Europe, could not assign the proportion of a 
vessel better accommodated to the purpose, than is here 
done. 

The capacity of the Ark, which has been made an 
objection against Scripture, ought to be esteemed a 
confirmation of its divine authority. Since in those 
rude ages, men being less versed in arts and philosophy, 
were more abnoxious to vulgar prejudices than now; 
so that had the Ark been contrived by human inven¬ 
tion, it would have been made according to the will 
and apprehensions which arise from a confused and 
general view of things, and is probable would have 
been made as much too big as it has been represented 
too little. 

Having now passed through my views of the signs 
of the times which went before the flood, I shall next 
attempt an exhibition of the signs of the times prece¬ 
ding the advent of the Messiah, with which will be 
found many strong intimations of the Millennium to 
come in the latter days. 


EXPECTED UmtlSTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


65 


I conceive that this field of research is more abun¬ 
dantly supplied with prophecies , forerunners and signs 
than the other; and therefore, shall only notice some 
of the most obvious, relating 1 to my purpose. All the 
prophecies of the Messiah, and all the supernutural ap¬ 
pearances of angels, previous to his coming in the flesh, 
should be considered as the signs of the times , deno¬ 
ting that he was making haste and would not tarry. < 
Our first instance of the appearance of Christ in 
the likeness of the human form, is that of his sociable 
conversation with Abraham, in company with two of 
his angels, under the oak trees of Abraham’s grove 
at Mamre. “ And the Lord, appeared unto him in the 
plains o f Mamre , as he sat in the tent door in the heat 
of the day .” 

But Abraham knew not that it was the second per¬ 
son in the Trinity, for he was in the likeness of a man; 
therefore, as soon as he saw the approach of these 
strangers, arose and made them welcome to his lowly 
tent. Therefore, he said to the men, “ Let a little 
water I pray you be fetched , and wash your feet, and, 
rest yourselves under the tree .”—Gen. xviii.4. But they 
had not beep long there before he found that his guests 
were from heaven, and that one of them was the very 
same who had appeared to him before. See Gen. xvii. 
1. u And when Abraham was ninety-nine years old, 
the Lord appeared to Abraham , and said, I am, the 
Almighty God; walk before me and be thou perfect 
3d. verse.—“ And Abraham fell on his face , and God 
talked with him .” 

It is very likely he discovered liim first in the affai/ 

JF* 


• • 4 » 



66 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


of Sarah, when he asked him “Where is Sarah, thy 
wife ?” and added, “ I will certainly return unto thee 
according to the time of life; and lo! Sarah thy 
wife shall have a son.” Then he knew it was the Lord, 
for he had talked with him upon the same subject be¬ 
fore, when he fell on his face and laughed, and said in 
his heart, “ Shall a -child be born unto him that is an 
hundred years old, in whom all the families of the 
earth shall be blessed 

Here, then, is a remarkable forerunner of the Mes¬ 
siah who should come of the lineage of Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob ; which to the Jews, in alter ages, was 
a sure sign, that king Messiah was to arise out of their 
nation. And to a Christian, his appearance to Abra¬ 
ham may be an early token that his delight was with 
the sons of men, who at that time, in the human form, 
stood on the plains of Mamre, as in after ages on the 
hill of Calvary. 

The Patriarch Jacob also saw him and wrestled 
with him all night; and Jacob called the place Peniel, 
or the face of God; for he said, “1 have seen God 
face to face, and my life is preserved.” 

» 


* « In-whom all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Would it he 
putting a forced meaning upon the above promise, if we consider it as relating, 
j finally, to the universal knowledge and effects of the Gospel on the earth, in 
the days of the Millennium! If it does not, why then is the blessedness of the 
promise put in the future! We know very well, that Jesus Christ is the true 
light , that lighteth every man who is born into the world, and that this light had 
gone into effect long before that promise to Abraham, and in this sense, not only 
all the families of the earth are blessed, but all individuals also. It would 
seem, therefore, to extend with a peculiar reference to the time, when all the 
fan&es, then on the earth, shall he blessed, at one and the same time, with * 
chfwite, knowledge of Christ, which was never yet the fact 


Expected Christian millennium. 67 

And Moses, at Mount Horeb, saw him ; for their ap¬ 
peared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai the 
angel of the Lord, in a flame of fire, in a bush ; and 
when Moses saw it he drew near, and the voice of the 
Lord came unto him, saying, “ I am the God of thy 
fathers.” This tvas he who was with the Church in 
the wilderness, who was called a roe/r, and St. Paul 
says that rock was Christ. See I. Cor. x. 4. 

At another time, Moses, with many of the elders of 
Israel, went up into the mount and saw the God of Is¬ 
rael ; “ and there was under his feet as it were a paved 
work of sapphire stone, and as it were, the body of 
heaven in his clearness.” 

Let no one stumble at this, although it is written in 
the Scriptures, that no man ever saw God and lived ; 
for it is not possible for mortal eyes to behold him, and 
perhaps it is to be doubted whether even angels ever 
saw him as he is, and was from eternity: but they 
have seen him only through some medium which lie 
has assumed, and thus descended to be seen of angels, 
as he has descended still lower in the form of man to 
be seen of men. 

Joshua, the successor of Moses, saw him when he 
was by the river Jericho. “ And he lifted up his eyes 
and looked , and behold there stood a man over against 
him , with his sword drawn in his hand; and Joshua 
went unto him : Art thou for us , or for our adversa¬ 
ries ? And he said nay , but as Captain of the host of 
the Lord am 1 come. And Joshua fell on his face to 
the earth and did worship , and said unto him 3 what 
xaith mp Lord unto his servant” 


68 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

This was die Captain of the armies of Israel, who 
was with them for their salvation ; and is it not writ¬ 
ten of Christ that he is the Captain of our salvation, 
the good shepherd of the sheep, and head of all prin¬ 
cipality and power ? 

Again he appeared the sr.me mysterious angel, who 
is again and again called Jehovah, and sat under an 
oak in Ophra, and appeared to Gideon and said, “ The 
Lord is with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianitcs 
as one man ; and the Lord looked upon him and said , 
Go in this thy might, have I not sent thee T y 

Some years after, he again appeared to the wife of 
Manoah, the mother of Sampson, and promised her 
a son ; but Manoah not being present at the time, 
prayed that he would come again. God heard his 
prayer, and the angel again visited them, at which time 
Manoah asked his name, not knowing that he w T as an 
angel, but probably thinking him a prophet; but the 
answer was, “ Why askesi thou after my name, seeing 
it is a secret as if he fain would say, I am not yet 
called Jesus the Christ. But Manoah being directed 
to offer a sacrifice to God upon the rock which was at 
hand, at which it is written, the angel did wonderous- 
ly, and ascended in the flame of the burnt sacrifice, for 
it was the angel Jehovah. 

Many wonderful manifestations had David, Solo¬ 
mon and Elijah, especially the latter, in the cave of the 
mountain, when the Lord passed by in an earthquake, 
tand in a strong and mighty wind, which brake in pie¬ 
ces the rocks before the Lord, and in a fire, and next 
(O still small voice, at the sound of which Elijah cover- 


’EXPECTED CHKISTUN MILLENNIUM. 69 

ed his lace in his mantle, for then he knew it was the 
Lord. 

St. John informs us that Isaiah saw Christ’s glory 
and spake of him. “ 1 saw the Lord , says he, sitting 
upon his throne, high and lifted up; his train filled 
the temple . The seraphim covering their faces with 
their wings , and cried one to another , saying , Holy , 
Holy , Holy is the Lord of Hosts.” 

Thus far we see, that from Abraham as well as be¬ 
fore his time, until that very remarkable view of Isaiah, 
there were many signs of his coming. But we will 
now pass over subsequent ages, and come nigher to 
the time when he who was and is the desire of nations, 
the great antetype of all the old testament types, 
sacrifices and signs , was to be disclosed to human 
■view in Bethlehem of Judea. 

1 

The signs of those times, it appears were very close¬ 
ly observed by the wise men of the east. They no 
doubt were Jews, or men who possessed a knowledge 
of Jewish tradition, or else had the Jewish Scriptures, 
though living a great distance east of Jerusalem. 

The fact that Isaiah had foretold the miraculous birth 
of the Messiah, who should be the offspring of a vir¬ 
gin, and that his name would be called Immanuel, was 
known to them, and also the information of the angel 
to Daniel, the prophet, which was given him when he 
so fervently prayed that God would, again restore the 
captive Jews to their country and beloved city; and 
it is probable that he at that lime also prayed, that the 
Messiah might then appear for their relief and emanci¬ 
pation from captivity. 


70 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


But to this prayer the angel Gabriel seems to reply, 
by saying, “ Seventy weeks are determined upon thy 
people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgress 
ion, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconcil¬ 
iation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting right¬ 
eousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and 
to anoint the Most Holy.”—Dan. ix. 24. Which in¬ 
forms, in the most emphatic manner, that the Messiah 
would not come sooner than seventy weeks, or four 
hundred and ninety years, reckoning each week to 
be seven years, which was the fact. 

Relative to this verse, Dr. Clark states that the se¬ 
venty weeks here mentioned amount to four hundred 
and ninety years, and are divided into three distinct 
periods. 

First period embraces from the going forth of the 
commandment to rebuild Jerusalem, which command¬ 
ment was issued by Artaxerxes Lnngimnnus , and giv¬ 
en to Ezra, the prophet, and comprehends seven weeks, 
or forty-nine years, till Jerusalem was repaired, her sa¬ 
cred constitutions and civil establishments again brought 
into effect by Ezra and Nehemiah. 

Second period consists of sixty-two weeks, or four 
hundred and thirty-four years, and extends from the 
above mentioned repairs of Jerusalem, till the com¬ 
mencement of the preaching of John the Baptist, 
which was probably several years before Christ entered 
on his public ministry. 

Third period embraces one week, or seven years, 
and comprehends all that time in which the Messiah 
was to confirm the covenant with many, and extends 


EXPECTED CHPJSTIAN MIELENWIUM. 


71 


from the commencement of John the Baptist’s preach¬ 
ing till the out-pouring of the holy Ghost on the day 
of Pentecost, which three periods will make seventy 
weeks, or 490 years. 

The propriety of adapting the last week, or seven 
years, to John the Baptist’s preaching, appears from 
the words of Christ, who says, “ The Law was un¬ 
til John: with John’s ministry and his own, till Pen¬ 
tecost, the new and better covenant was confirmed, 
which is the last of the seventy weeks, and was fulfill¬ 
ed to the letter. 

And that these years were nearly accomplished was 
undoubtedly known to those Eastern Magi, or wise 
men, and the place foretold by the prophets of his 
birth was a subject to which they were no strangers, 
else why should they seek him at Jerusalem. 

And while they were in the way to that City, a 
meteor or star appeared in the air, not very high from 
the earth. The appearance of this star, was to those 
wise men a very joyful coincidence, for it is likely they 
might then recollect that it was said by Balaam, “ 1 
shall see him but not now , 1 shall behold him but not 
nigh; there shall come a star out of Jacob , and a 
sceptre shall arise out of Israel .”—Num. xxiv. 17. 
This star, therefore, might be thought a symbol of the 
true star that was to arise out of Jacob. As soon, 
therefore, as they had come to the city, they inquired 
for Him who was born king of the Jews, and added, 
for we have seen his star. Although they were cer¬ 
tain that this was the country where he must be born, 
vet the particular place was to them an object of in* 


72 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


quiry; hut of this they could not he informed ; for 
when Herod, at their instigation, had assembled the ' 
Sanhedrin to inquire for himself, where this king should 
be born, they could only tell him, in Bethlehem of Ju¬ 
dea, for thus it is written by the prophet : “ And thou , 
Bethlehem , 4 in the land of Judea , art not the least 
among the princes; for out of thee shall come a Go¬ 
vernor that shall rule my people Israel .”—Math. ii. 6 
Herod, therefore, as soon as he had finished the inqui¬ 
ry, dismissed tl>e Sanhedrin, and privately said to these 
wise men, “ As soon as ye find the young child bring 
me word that l may worship him.” 

* 

These wise men having obtained information where 
that section of the country called Bethlehem was situ¬ 
ated, went from the presence of Herod, to seek in that 
place the particular dwelling of his parents, or house 
of his abode, which was about six miles from Jerusa¬ 
lem. And while musing and conversing upon the pro¬ 
phecies and signs of his birth, saw suddenly and not 
very high from the earth, the same meteoric star, 
which they had seen in the way when coming to Jeru¬ 
salem. At which sight they greatly rejoiced, and fol¬ 
lowed its course until it came and stood over the place 
and humble dwelling of God manifest in the flesh. 
There is scarcely a doubt but this bright luminous me¬ 
teor, after standingover the place where the child lay, 
came and encompassed the head of the infant; else 
how should these wise men know certainly that this 
was the very child, the subject of prophesy, and was 
born a king, to whom they presented gifts. The fact 
that the Saviour was always represented with a glory 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM, 73 

about his head by the ancient painters, is a corrobo¬ 
rative proof that the meteor did rest upon his brow at 
that time. 

But the wise men, after they had bestowed their 
gifts, and bowed and worshipped their Maker in the 
person of this child, returned to their country another 
way, w hich is supposed to be in the kingdom or coun¬ 
try of the Sabeans or Saba, and also Arabia Felix, 
who are supposed to be the descendants of Abraham, 
by his w ife Keturah, who received their portion of their 
father, and departed for a country lying east from Abra¬ 
ham. See Gen. xxv. 6. “ But unto the sons of the 
concubines which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, 
and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet 
lived eastw ard in the east country.” 

Perhaps in this place, though it be a digression from 
our subject, it would not be unacceptable to the curi¬ 
ous, if I give an account of Herod the great, whose 
son beheaded John the Baptist. 

Herod the great, the son of Antipater, reigned thir¬ 
ty seven years in Judea, reckoning from the time he 
was created king of that country by the Romans. 
Our blessed Lord was born in the last year of his 
reign, and at this time the sceptre had literally depart¬ 
ed from Judea, a foreigner being now on the throne. 
As there are several princes of this name mentioned 
in the New Testament, it may be well to give a list of 
them here, together with their genealogy 

Herod the great, married ten wives, by whom he had: 
several children. The first was Doris, thought to be 
an Idnmean, whom he married when but a private in- 

G 


74 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM, 


dividual. By her, he had Antipater, the eldest of all 
his sons, whom he caused to be executed five days 
before his own death. Another of his sons was 
slain when the infants- at Bethlehem were destroyed, 
which caused a certain writer of the day to say, “ It is 
better to be Herod’s hog than his son.” The point in 
this saying, consists in this: that Herod, professing 
Judaism for his religion, forbade his killing swine, or 
having any thing to do with their flesh ; therefore, his 
hog would have been safe where his son lost his life. 

His second wife was Mariamne, daughter of Hirca- 
nus, the sole surviving person of the Asmonean, or 
Maccabean race. Herod put her to death. She was 
the mother of Alexander and Aristobulous, whom Her¬ 
od had executed at Selastia, on accusation of having 
entered into a conspiracy against him. Aristobulous 
left three children, whom I shall notice hereafter. 

His third wife was Mariamne, the daughter of Si¬ 
mon, a person of some note in Jerusalem, whom Her¬ 
od made high priest, in order to obtain his daughter. 
She was the mother of Herod Philippus, or Herod 
Philip, and Salome. Herod, or Philip, married Hero- 
dius, mother to Salome, the famous dancer, who de¬ 
manded the head of John the Baptist.—Mark vi. 22. 
Salome had been placed, in the will of Herod the 
great, as second heir after Antipater; but her name 
was erased, when it was discovered that Mariamne, her 
mother, was an accomplice in the crimes of Antipater, 
son of Herod the great. 

His fourth wife was Malthake, a Samaritan, whose. 
>'ons were Archelaus end Philip. The first enjoyed 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 7S 

fialf of Ills father’s kingdom under the name of te- 
trarch. He reigned nine years ; but being accused and 
arraigned before the Emperor Augustus, he was ban¬ 
ished to Vienna, where he died. Tins is the Archelaus 
mentioned in verse 22. His brother Philip married 
Salome, the famous dancer, the daughter of Herodius* 
lie died without children, and she was afterwards mar¬ 
ried to Aristobulous. 

The fifth wife of Herod the great, was Cleopatra, of 
Jerusalem. She was the mother of Herod, suriiamed 
Antipas, who married Herodius, the wife of his brother 
Philip, while he was still living. Being reproved for 
this act by John the Baptist, he caused him to be im¬ 
prisoned, and afterwards, to be beheaded, agreeably 
to the promise be had rashly -made to the daughter of 
• his wife Herodius, w ho had pleased him w ith her dan¬ 
cing. He attempted to seize the person of Jesus 
Christ, and to put him to death. It was to this Prince 
that Pilate sent our Lord.—Luke xiii. 31, 32. He 
was banished to Lyons, and then to Spain, where both 
he and his wife Herodius died. 

* 

The sixth wife of Herod the great was Palas, by 
whom he had Phasaelus. His history is in no way 
connected with the New Testament. 

The seventh was named Phaedra, the mother of 
Roxana, who married the son of Pheroras- 

The eighth was Elpida, mother of Salome, who 
married another son of Pheroras. With the names of 
two other wives of Herod, we are not acquainted, but 
they are not connected with our history any more than 
are Pales, Phaedra and Elpida, whose names l merely 


76 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 

notice, to avoid the accusation of historical inaccuracy 
with reference to the Herod family. 

Aristobulous, the son of Herod the great, by Mari- 
amne, a descendant of the Asmoneans, left two sons 
and a daughter, viz. Agrippa, Herod, and Herodius, 
so famous for her incestuous marriage with Antipas, in 
the life time of his brother Philip. 

Agrippa, otherwise named Herod, who was impris¬ 
oned by Tiberius for something he had said against 
him, was released from prison by Caligula, who made 
him king of Judea. It was this Prince who put St 
James to death, and imprisoned Peter, as mentioned in 
xii. of Acts. He died at Cesarea, in the way men¬ 
tioned in the Acts, as w r ell as by Josephus. He left a 
son named Agrippa, who is mentioned below. 

Herod, the second son of Aristobulous, was king of 
Chalcis, and after the death of his brother, obtained 
permission of the emperor to keep the ornaments be¬ 
longing to the high priest, and to nominate whom he 
pleased to that office. He had a son named Aristobu¬ 
lous, to whom Nero gave Armenia the lesser, and who 
married Salome, the famous dancer, daughter to He¬ 
rodius. 

Agrippa, son of Herod Agrippa, king of Judea, 
and grandson to Aristobulous and Mariamne ; he was 
at first king of Chalcis, and afterward tetrarch of Gal¬ 
ilee, in the room ol his uncle Philip. It was before 
him, his sister Berenice, and Felix, who had married 
Drusilla, Agrippa’s second daughter, that St. Paul 
pleaded his cause, as mentioned Acts xxvi. 

Herodius, the daughter of Mariamne and Aristobu- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


77 


ious, is the person of whom we have already spoken, 
who married successively the two brothers, Philip and 
Antipas, her uncles, and who occasioned the death of 
John the Baptist. By her first husband, she had Sa¬ 
lome, the dancer, who was married to Philip, tetrarch 
of the Trachonitis, and son of Herod the great. Sa¬ 
lome having had no children by him, she w as married 
to Aristobulous, her cousin-german, son of Herod, 
king of Chalcis, and brother to Agrippa and Herodi- 
us : she had by this husband several children. 

This is nearly all that is necessary to be known rel¬ 
ative to the race of the Herods, in order to distinguish 
the particular persons of this family mentioned in the 
New Testament. See Dr. Clark. 

But to return. The last sign which 1 shall notice 
of the coming of the Messiah, is, that while some 
shepherds were guarding their flocks, in the country 
not far from Bethlehem, there appeared, in the night 
season, just in the heaven above them, a company of 
celestial beings; their glory, it is probable, was as 
if a sun bad suddenly burst upon the gloom of night 
and shot his bright light all around them. But the 
glorious sight was not sooner seen, than music, such 
as earth cannot afford, swelled its loud and thrilling 
sounds upon the charmed skies, but mixed with the 
overwhelming song, was distinctly heard the gladden¬ 
ing news, that in the city of David, Christ the Cord 
was born, and laid in the manger of a stable. But to 
their song, around the dreadful throne of God in Hea¬ 
ven, was heard the deep unutterable response of “ Glo~ 
j-ry to God in the highest, peace on earth, good will i® 


78 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


men.” This song the angels sung, then vanished 
from their sight; but the shepherd’s hastened to see if the 
thing was true, and found him lying in the predicted 
manger, wrapped in swadling bands, A. M. 4000. 

At this time there was a universal peace; for we 
have the fact of history, that Ceesar Augustus, the Ro¬ 
man Emperor, had shut the temple of Janus, as a to¬ 
ken that then there was a universal peace. 

Earth and her powers stood still, and kings with awful eye. 

Sit as if they knew their sovereign Lord was by.—M ilton 




FOURTH DIVISION. 

Having now passed through some of the signs which went before 
the flood, and before the advent of Christ, I shall, therefore, 
next attempt to show the signs of our own times, which indi¬ 
cate the Millennium not very remote ; but must be preceded by 
an effect of the power of the great God, such as man has not 
witnessed since the world began. 

Roll onward earth, and sparkle in thine orb. 

Till the six number’d days are quite absorb’d— 

Till the great week of time, six thousand years. 

Shall waft us from this soil of groans and tears. 

Then multiply ye signs of millennial days. 

Till earth’s in glory rob’d and songs of praise. 

— v> e©©**** 

It is hoped that the reader is now, in a measure, pre¬ 
pared to view the subject in a more propitious light, 
having seen that God does afford signs and forerun¬ 
ners that men should be admonished of the things 
which he intends to accomplish on the earth. Which 
signs we now shall bring forward, as being more inti¬ 
mately connected with the present age, and past ages 
of the Christian Church. 

‘ The great success which has marked the progress of 
the gospel, from its author to the present day, is a sign 
which may be seen of all people ; though its way has 
been opposed by kings and emperors, and the great 
ones of the earth ; though the depravity of the whole 
race of men, has lifted up a standard against it, yet 
has it through seas of blood, oceans of flame, forests 


80 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


of swords, gulfs and dungeons, a world of deceit and 
wickedness, urged its gentle way: though enemies 

more to be dreaded than these, and of a subtlier kind. 

# 

have assailed the blessed Gospel, yet have they not pre¬ 
vailed. Though a Voltaire has said that he was wea¬ 
ry of hearing that twelve rneii had propagated the Gos- 
„pel, yet he presumptuously and arrogantly boasted, 
that he would show to the world that he could destroy 
. the whole alone. But hie death was marked with 
dreadful horrors ; his pitiful cryings and cowardly be¬ 
haviour at that extremity, showed him but poorly qual¬ 
ified to conquer the Son of God, or to put to flight the 
least of his disciples. Though with him a host of in- 
■fidels, in every age, have assailed the Gospel with all 
the powers of their pandaemonian compact, and have 
poured upon it a flood of scorn and contempt, yet 
the Gospel shines in all its glory of simplicity and 
truth. 

Although a Constantine thought to add to its strengtli 
by his feeble prop of law* because he knew not its na¬ 
ture, yet it stood on its own foundation, gloriously in¬ 
dependent. 

I would here remark, that the manner of Constan¬ 
tine's conversion to Christianity, does not carry with it 
any convincing proof, that he was regenerated by the 
grace of God, at that time. 

The manner of his conversion was as follows : When 
*Constantine the great was in Gaul , A. D. 312, there 
appeared in the sky, a little after noon day , above the 
•sun, a splendid luminous cross , with this inscription 

it: “ By this conquer in consequence of widely 

/ ♦ 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 81 

« • 

iie Mas convinced that if he espoused the Christian 
cause, he should conquer his enemies, and win the 
whole empire to himself. 

Accordingly, in A. D. 324, he totally defeated Li~ 
cinus , who had shared the empire with him, and be¬ 
came sole emperor, which was the summit of his am¬ 
bition .—See Clark , on Daniel. 

Though the Popes of the Roman Church have 
wrested, from age to age, the salutary words of the 
Gospel, and have, since the time they became anti- 
Christian, supported their doctrines and power, by 
keeping their adherents in total ignorance the most 
pitiful, and by coersion the most cruel; yet there has 
been, and still are millions who dare confess Him , in 
the very face of death, “ of w hom Moses and the pro¬ 
phets did write.” 

Rut the preaching and writings of eminent and holy 
men, In various nations, from the time of the great re¬ 
formation in the days of Luther till now, have, by the 
providence of God, been sapping the foundation of 
that enormous Boiion L t pas, the Roman Papal Church 
in Italy : and ere long its trunk will fill, and the re¬ 
gion where it grows, and has for ages poisoned with its 
effluvia distant nations, shall be destroyed and not 
healed, but shall be given to salt , the salt of eternal 
burning. 

The great means by which God has, and is effecting 
the emancipation of those who are bound in darkness 
and ignorance, is by the scriptures of truth being put 
into the hands of every man. Yet many have been 
the attempts to suppress this most holy book, but still 



82 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


it prevails, and will prevail. The union and leal which 
is now manifest among all the evangelical sects, to 
send this book to all nations, is a notable sign , in this 
our day, that the time is not very far off, when a uni¬ 
versal and individual knowledge of the Bible shall 
be possessed by every bosorn. 

The monsters, bigotry and prejudice, are passing 
away like the shades of night before the rising sun, 
and a union of energy among the Churches is taking 
their place, of whom there is forming a vast army, who 
shall press onward to certain victory. Worldly gran¬ 
deur and a religious monopoly is not their object : but 
to send the Scriptures to all nations, tongues and lan¬ 
guages, and to instruct the ignorant, are their highest 
and only aim. 

. Thcr* are, at the present time, three thousand Bible 
Societies in the world, and all formed wittiin twenty 

years. The annual income of these is about four mill- 

«/ 

ions five hundred thousand dollars, which will naturally 
increase from year to year. This vast annual sum, 'with¬ 
out any additional increase ,,will amount, in twenty years 
more, to the immense sum of ninety millions of dol- 
dars. It is easy, therefore, to see, that in a hundred 
years, if God continues to bless this means, there , 
will be put into the hands of all heathen nations, the 
holy Scriptures, the w ords of life; yes, and it is pro¬ 
bable this will be done much sooner than a hundred 
years. 

More than three millions of Bibles have already 
been distributed among these nations, who are the ob¬ 
jects of commiseration, and are read in a hundred and 



EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


83 


forty different languages, at the present time. And in 
addition to this, the Missionaries of all the evangelical 
Churches, are flying upon the wings of the wind, to 
the very ends of creation, not to build up sectarianism, 
but to inform them of the wav of life and salvation, in 
the most simple and easy manner. This is benevolence 
indeed. 

Already the following countries are visited by the 
angel, whom John saw flying through the midst of' 
heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to 
them that dwell on the earth :—Western Africa, South 
Africa, African Islands, Mediterranean, Black and 
Caspian seas, Siberia, China, India beyond the Gan¬ 
ges, and India within the Ganges; Ceylon, Indian 
Archipelago, Australasia, Asia and Polynesia; South 
American States, Guiana, West Indies, North Ameri¬ 
can Indians, Labrador and Greenland. In those 
countries in 1825, there were 283 stations, 585 Mis¬ 
sionaries, 394 native assistants, and 37,919 communi¬ 
cants ; all snatched from the gulf of heathenism, by 
that angel of mercy and light, the Gospel. 

Sunday Schools, too, follow in the hallowed train* 
which gracious and glorious plan strikes at the root of 
the matter, takes the infant from the parents’ htathm 
bosom, and informs the tender mind, and rears it up 
for God. 

The tract societies too, for the distribution of 
free and candid thoughts upon all sorts of vice, anti 
the easy way of reformation and happiness pointed 
out, and the horrors which absolutely await the im¬ 
penitent, in a future life, plainly shown. 


84 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


The Bible in its free circulation—the Missionary t(T 
inforce and explain it—-the Sunday Schools and Tract 
Societies, are the mighty bolts of Heaven, with which he 
is smiting the nations, and breaking in pieces all the ; 
strong holds of Satan—all combinations of wicked 
men, till all enemies shall be subdued and saved by 
grace, or destroyed from the earth by judgments from 
Heaven. 

Such then, are the signs of our own times, which 
streak the horizon of our world with spiritual light, 
like the bright lights of the night that illume the 
northern skies, when the Aurora Borealis dashes there ; 
or such light as the sun affords before his rising, w hen 
his beams shoot athwart the Atlantic sea, and tip with 
gold the Rocky Mountains. Such are the certain to¬ 
kens, that a brighter sun will soon arise to set no more, 
till a thousand years of holy rest to the saints shall 
complete the great week of time. 

But we are too apt to let pass the notable signs of 
Heaven, without bestowing upon them that pious at¬ 
tention they demand. The antediluvians thought no¬ 
thing of the signs of their times, but were heedlessj un¬ 
til the flood came and took them all away. 

The signs of the times which went before the birth 
of Christ, were not sufficiently looked into; otherwise 
the Jews w ould have known the Messiah, by the tokens 
foretold by the prophets. 

But let it not be the guilt of this nation, to be blind 
to the signs of the times, nor of the Churches ; but to 
look, expect and pray, for the coming in of the great 
sabbatical year and jubilee of Heaven, the Millennium 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


8i 

\S as there ever a time when the different sects have 
«>een so united as at the present, to promote the same 
cause. Of them it may now be said with great propriety, 
see how these brethren love one another. Is this not a 
token that the watchmen shall scon see eye to eye ? 

Was there ever a time when benevolent combina¬ 
tions ol talent, and appropriations of money, (having 
for their ostensible object, the amelioration of suffer¬ 
ing humanity) so pervaded all Christian. sects, all refi¬ 
ned society, all Christendom, as at the present ?—nev¬ 
er. Witness the struggles of philanthropy in the 
Court of St. James, with the powers of avarice, for the 
emancipation of slaves. Witness the arm of pity in 
this country, which is bared to the shoulder, to snatch 
from the bloody lash, and from ignorance the most hor¬ 
rible, the groaning African. That arm is the growing 
energies of the Colonization Societies. Angel of 
mercy ! brood over its being, and say, be strong ! Tar¬ 
ry not in all the plains of the Northern and Southern 
States, till thou hast whispered in the heart of all 
slave holders, 

Let all flesh that’s ktanan from thy grasp be free, 

Nor speak the name of slave in North America. 

Then fly thee to the Isles of the Atlantic sea, 

There wave thy wand cf love —ye slaves, be free! 

Then hasten from that clime, O ’tis mercy speaks, 

O’erwhelm the Ottoman power, but save the Greeks. 

O, the glory of that day, when Slavery , the foulest 
nlot on the politics of men, shall be wiped off; and 
where the fatal stain was recorded, there write the ra*' 
dient word, Liberty. 

But the signs of Heaven, that the MUlennitua is 

H 


80 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 

nigh, may be expected to be multiplied with the pass¬ 
ing years $ what wrH not the present growing, though* 
infant ameliorating energies of a gracious philanthropy 
not effect in a hundred years, and even in fifty, if God 
continues to bless their efforts ? The means now in op¬ 
eration to spread the Gospel, in a short time will ef¬ 
fect wonders not yet conceived of, in reference to a 
preparation for the introduction of the seventh Chiliad 
of the world. The Lord hasten it in his time, the 
time to cleanse the sanctuary, the time to give to the 
saints the kingdom, the great jubilee, the Sabbath of 
creation, the victory of Christ, the time to bind Satan 
a thousand years, the renewal of the paradistieal state, 
the glory of Messiah’s kingdom on earth, which will 
afford undescribed happiness and assurance for a thou¬ 
sand years. 




♦ 




FIFTH DIVISION, 

Will represent the probable state of the incorrigible and wicked 
part of mankind, just previous to the commencement of the 
Millennium. In this division will be given an account of Pa- 
gun Home and of Papal Rome, which subjects are hinted at 
l»y the ltevelator, in his 13th and 17th Chapters. 


When Noah built the Ark, in the first age, 

Men gloried in their crimes and in their rage— 

So they in after times, when Jesus came. 

Were impudent and bold in heathen shame: 

Much the same plight the world will then be in, 

When Christ from Heaven shall come to end its sire 

It is probable that the most popular idea about the 
commencement of the Millennium, is, that there will be 
a gradual reformation, from year to year, until the 
whole of mankind, generally speaking, shall be fa¬ 
vourably disposed towards religion; when a general 
morality shall prevail throughout the world. Such a 
state as this, is also supposed by many, will be the con¬ 
dition of the world during the Millennium. But if 
Christ, relative to the Church, in the days of St John, 
expressed himself as abominating all lulce warm souls,, 
and threatened to spue them out of his mouth* or casT 
them down to hell, as I understand it to mean; how,; 
♦hen, in the Millennium, when it is expressly stated that 
all shall be holy, can it be consistent that there then 
*hall be any mere .moralists to nauseate the bosom of 


$8 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNICSf* 

\ 

the millennial Church ? Again, if it is at all scriptu¬ 
ral to expect there will arrive a time, when the sanct na¬ 
ry , which is nothing else but the Church of God on 
the earth, shall be cleansed, then we may calculate from 
this, as from an immoveable data , that all such as are 
merely moral only , shall be cast out at the time of that 
cleansing. If this shall not be the fact, how is it that 
Mount Zion is to become finally the joy of all the 
earth ? How is it that this Zion , which is the Icing's 
daughter, is to be all glorious within , if there shall, in 
the Millennium, be any sinners at all ? The very gen¬ 
ius and nature of salvation, commenced by a compe¬ 
tent Saviour, contemplates such an effect over his ene¬ 
mies. If such shall not be the fact, how then are the 
saints to take the kingdom , if a part of the inhabitants, 
at that time , belong to the kingdom of Satan. 

But we resume the other idea, which is, that it is not 
probable the millennial state is to be brought on by the 
slow advances which real piety is supposed will make, 
so as to overcome all opposition. Far enough from 
this, it is to be feared, will be the horrible fact. 

Man is a free agent , and we have no precedent, in 
the dealings of God with man , to fix upon, as data, 
from which to calculate a suspension of that free agen 
ey, so that he should become incapacitated thereby, to 
Fllow the will of his own mind. Hence, we con- 
t elude, that such shall not be the fact : therefore, man 
shall continue to exercise this power, (given) till the 
final period arrives, when all free agents, who are sin¬ 
ners, shall have that gracious, yet wonderful gift ta¬ 
ken away. See Matt. xxv. 28, 30. 


'EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 89 

Therefore, I perceive no peculiar reason, why the 
whole world shall absolutely become more religious 
this side the Millennium, than at any period which is 
past. But that while the Gospel shall pour itself like 
a river, over all heathen countries, and lift them up 
from their low and degraded state, it is much to be 
feared, that infidelity will follow hard after, to subvert 
the gracious designs of the Gospel. 

This has been the conctant procedure of Satan, the 
destroyer, ever since the promise to the woman was 
made, that of her seed a Redeemer should arise. Of 
this John, (Rev. xii. 12.) had a view, when he cri¬ 
ed, Wo to the inhabitants of the earthy and of the 
sea, for the devil is come down unto you , having great 
wrath , because he lenowith that he hath'but,a short 
time ; who will not cease his opposition till he is shut 
up in the bottomless pit.—See Rev. xx. 3. Of this 
spirit, who had passed from a holy and happymature, 

5to a vile and sinful one, it is said, that when he saw 
.he was cast out in the earth, he persecuted the woman 
fwho brought forth the man child. This man child by 
some is supposed to mean the Christian JEmperors, be¬ 
ginning with Constantine the Great, who espoused the 
Gospel, and were caught up to God and his throne; 
i. e. caught up to sit on the throne of the Roman Em¬ 
pire, and from thence to rule the nations with a rod of 
iron: this, say they,the Christian Roman Emperors have 
done. Others suppose the child to mean Jesus (Christ, 
who would diave been devoured by the dragon, Herod, 
when an infant, but was finally caught up to God and 
;his throne.at his resurrection, and from thence rules,the- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN BITLLEiVNxCT* 


■09 

'wicked nations with a rod of iron, or signal judg¬ 
ments. But the vile spirit called Satan, soon seduced 
to his purposes the whole race of man, with but few ex¬ 
ceptions, which is evident when we examine the history 
and end of the nations before the flood. 

And afterward, when the race of man was renewed 
from the family of Noah, the same wicked spirit all 
along till Christ, by corruptions and abominations 
among the people, manifested himself to be the enemy 
of God and his Church in the earth. 

He prevailed among the nations to adopt the vile 
and unnatural service of dumb idols ; and animals, 
with many kinds of reptiles, the sun, moon and stars, 
and herbs of the field were the objects of their adora¬ 
tion: and mingled with these, in tlieir assemblies, 
were the abominable rites of of obscenity. 

But notwithstanding all the opposition of a combi¬ 
ned world, the promised seed of the woman, step by 
step, came on, conquering and to conquer, till lie stood, 
finally, on Mount Calvary and made expiation for situ 
Since that time, the modes of attack practiced by Sa- 
-tau, have been extremely various'; among the Jews he 
has ever been malicious and cruel towards this seed 
of the woman ; among the heathen lie lias been the 
blackness of darkness, confusion and error, that thev 

x 1 

should-not see this seed, who is the desire of all na¬ 
tions; for such is the fact, there has been no nation 
j)ut in some way have looked for a Mediator. Some-* 
times he has been seen upon the throne of nations 
with sceptre and crown, as in the person of Constan¬ 
tine the Great, who espoused the Christian cause, tram 


) 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


91 


'no other design than to increase his popularity and 
power, which saved the shedding of much Christian 
blood at that time. Here, no doubt, was manifest the 
extreme subtlety of the devil, who, when he saw that 
the gospel of the Son of God w as becoming popular, 
thought it a good expedient, in order to counteract its 
holy healing influence upon the souls of men, if lie 
could get its support incorporated with the affairs of 
.State, and its ministers recognized among the great 
ones of theeartlr; when thus corrupted with ambitious 
desires of riches and worldly glory, its holy convert¬ 
ing designs would be'frustrated, Because when once 
the corruption is fastened on so firm a rock as the sec¬ 
ular government, its ministers no longer under the sal¬ 
utary discipline of exposure to persecution, become 
idle and wicked ; consequently, could not teach the 
truth, and did not hesitate to supply its place with fa¬ 
bles. Such is the fatal tendency of privileged orders. 
Such has been, and is the fact in many countries where 
die abominable power of a clerical monopoly has ob¬ 
tained ; in whose gripe the consciences of men are so 
firmly holden, that nothing less than the arm of God 
can break the chain. 

A history of which we shall now exhibit as 'given by 
Dr. Clark, w hich will not fail to strike the mind with 
w onder, when we contemplate this monster in its con¬ 
volutions, rolling its snaky folds in undescrihed pos¬ 
tures of horror, and is called a beast rising out of the 
sea.—Rev. xiii. 1. 

Verse 1. And 1 stood upon the sand of the sea, ani 
xmv a beast rise up <mt of the sea] Before weean^pro- 


f J2 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

cecd in the interpretation of this chapter, it will be 
highly necessary to ascertain the meaning of the prb- 
phetic symbol beast , as the want of a proper under¬ 
standing of this term has probably been one reason 
why so many discordant hypotheses have been publish¬ 
ed to the world. In this investigation, it is impossible 
to resort to a higher authority than Scripture ; for the 
Holy Ghost is His own interpreter. What is, there¬ 
fore, meant by the term beast in any one prophetic vis¬ 
ion, the same species of thing must be represented by 
the term whenever it is used in a similar manner in any 
other part of the Sacred Oracles. Having, therefore, 
laid this foundation, the angel’s interpretation of the 
last of Daniel’s four beasts need only be produced, an 
account of which is given in the 7th chapter of this 
prophet. Daniel being very desirous to “ know the 
truth of the fourth beast which was diverse from all the * 
others , .exceeding dreadful , and the ten horns that 
were on his head,” the angel thus interprets the vis¬ 
ion :—“ The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom 
upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, 
and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it 
down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns 
out of this kingdom are'ten kings that shall arise,” &,c. 
In this Scripture it is plainly declared that the fourth 
beast should be the fourth kingdom upon earth ; conse¬ 
quently, the four beasts seen by Daniel .are four king¬ 
doms : hence the term beast is the prophetic symbol 
for a kingdom. 

As to the nature of the kingdom which is represent¬ 
ed by the term beast; we shall obtain no inconsiderable 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


93 


light in examining the most proper meaning of the 
original word chaiych, which signifies what we term a 
wild beast ; and is thus used by St. John in the Apoc¬ 
alypse. In this sense, it is fully evident, if a power be 
represented in the prophetical writings under the notion 
of a wild beast , that the power so represented must 
partake of the nature of a wild beast. Hence an 
earthly belligerent power is evidently designed. And 
the comparison is peculiarly appropriate ; for, as sev¬ 
eral species of wild beasts carry on perpetual warfare 
with the animal world; so most governments, influen¬ 
ced by ambition, promote discard and depopulation. 
And, also, as the carniverous wild beast acquires its 
strength and magnitude by preying upon the feebler 
animals: so most earthly monarchies are raised up by 

the sword, and derive their political consequence from 

« 

the unsuccessful resistance of the contending nation?. 
The kingdom of God, on the other hand, is represent¬ 
ed as “ a stone cutout of the mountain without hands;” 
and is never likened to a beast , because it is not raised 
up by the sword, as all other secular powers are ; but 
sanctifies the persons under its subjection, in which 
’last particular it essentially differs from all other domi¬ 
nations. 

This beast is said to rise up out of the sea , in which 
particular it corresponds with the four beasts of Dan¬ 
iel; the sea is, therefore, the symbol of a great multi¬ 
tude of nations , as has already been proved; and the 
meaning is, that every mighty empire is raised upon 
the ruins of a great number of nations, against which 
it has successfully contended, and incorporated with its 


94 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

dominions. The sea , here, is doubtless die same, 
against the inhabiters of which a wo was denounced, 
chap. xii. 12. for St. John was standing upon the sand of 
the sea, when the vision changed from the woman and 
the dragon to that recorded in this chapter. It there¬ 
fore follows that the kingdom or empire here represent¬ 
ed by the beast , is that which sprung up out of the ru¬ 
ins of the Western Roman Empire. 

Having seven heads and ten horns , and upon his 
horns ten crowns —The beast here described is the Lat-^ 
in Empire, which supported the Romish or Latin 
church ; for it lias upon his horns ten crowns ; L e. is 
an empire composed of ten distinct monarchies in the 
interest of the Latin church.—See the heads and horns, 
fully explained in the notes on chapter xvii. 10, 12, 16. 

As the phrases Latin church , Latin empire , &c. 
are not very generally understood at present, and will 
occur frequently in the course of the notes on this and 
the 17th chapter, it will not be improper here to ex¬ 
plain them.—During the period from the division of 
the Roman empire into those of the east and west, till 
the final dissolution of the western empire ; the sub¬ 
jects of both empires were equally known by the name 
of Romans. Soon after this event the people of the 
west lost almost entirely the Marne of Romans, and 
were denominated after their respective kingdoms 
which were established upon the ruins of the western 
empire. But as the eastern empire escaped the ruin 
w hich fell upon the western ; the subjects of the former 
still retained the name of Romans , and called their do¬ 
minion the Roman empire; by which name this moil- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 96 , 

srdiy was known among them till its final dissolution 
in 1453, by Mahomed II. the Turkish sultan. But the 
subjects of the eastern emperor, ever since the time of 
Charlemagne, or before, (and more particularly in the 
time of the crusades, and subsequently,) called the 
western people, or those under the influence of the Ro¬ 
mish Church, Latins; and their church, the Latin 
church. And the western people, in return, denomina¬ 
ted the eastern church the Grech: church, and the mem¬ 
bers of it Greeks . Hence the division of the Christian 
church into those of the Greclc and Latin. For a 
confirmation of what has just been said, the reader may 
consult the Byzantine writers, where he will find the 
appellations Romans and Latins , used in the sense 
here mentioned in very numerous instances. The 
members of the Romish church have not been named 
Latins by the Greeks alone: this term is also used in 
the public instruments drawn up by the general popish 
councils, as may be instanced in the following words, 
which is a part of a decree of the council of Basil, da¬ 
ted Sept. 26, 1437, “ copiosissimam subventionem pro 
unione GitiECORUM cum Latinis,” a very great con¬ 
vention for the union of the Greeks with the Latins. 
Even in the very papal bulls this appellation has been 
acknowledged, as may be seen in the edict of Pope 
Eugenius IV. dated Sept. 17, 1437, where in one 
place mention is made of “ Ecclesice Latinorum— 
cuxsita unio the desired union of the church of the 
Latins: and in another place we read, “ Nec super esse 
modum alium prosejuendi oper is tarn pii , et servandi 
Latin.e ECCI.ESLE honoris f yi that no means might be 


90 


s •• 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN JgffLLENNIUMr 

left untried of prosecuting so pious a work, and of 
preserving the honour of the Latin church.—See Corps 
Diplomatique, Tom. ill. pp. 32, 35. In a bull of the 
same pontiff, dated Sept. 1439, we have “ Sanctissima 
Latinorum ct GFwFXORuai unio the most holy union 
of Greeks with the Latins.—See Bail’s Summa Con- 
ciliorum, in loc. By the Latin empire is meant the 
whole of the powers which support the Latin church. 
And upon his heads the name of blasphemy. —This 
has been variously understood : Jerome and Prosper 
give it as their opinion that the name of blasphemy 
consists in the appellation urbs ceterna , eternal city, 
applied to Rome; and modern commentators refer it 
to the idolatrous worship of the Romans and papists. 
Before we attempt to ascertain the meaning of this 
passage, it must be first defined what the Holy Spirit 
means by a name of blasphemy. Blasphemy, in Scrip¬ 
ture, signifies impious speaking , when applied to God ; 
and injurious speaking , when directed against our 
neighbour. A name of blasphemy is the prostitution 
of a sacred name to an unholy purpose. This is evi¬ 
dent from the 9th verse of the second chapter of the 
Apocalypse, where God says, “I know the blasphemy 
of them which say they are Jew's, and are not, but are 
the synagogue of Satan.” These wicked men, by 
calling themselves Jews, blasphemed the name, i.e. 
used it in an injurious sense ; for he ONLY is a Jew who 
is one inwardly. Hence the term Jews applied to the 
synagogue of Satan, is a name of blasphemy , i. e . a 
sacred name blasphemed. A name of blasphemy , or 
a blasphemous appellation, is said to be upon all the 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 97 

seven heads of the beast. To determine what this 
name is, the meaning of the seven heads in this place 
must be ascertained. If the reader refer to the notes 
on chap. xvii. 9, 10, 11. he will find that the heads are 
explained to have a double meaning, viz . that they 
signify the seven electorates of the German empire , and 
also seven forms of Latin government. As this is the 
first place in which the heads of the beasts are men¬ 
tioned with any description; it is reasonable to expect 
that this signification of the heads which is first in 
order in the angel’s interpretation, chap. xvii. 9. must 
be w hat is here intended. That is, “ the seven heads 
are seven mountains, on which the woman siiteth 
the name of blasphemy will, consequently, be found 
upon the seven electorates of Germany. This, there¬ 
fore, can be no other than that w hich was common not 
only to the electorates, but also to the whole empire of 
Germany, or that well known one of Sacrum Imperi- 
um Romanum, “ The Sacred (or Holy) Roman em¬ 
pire.” Here is a sacred appellation blasphemed by its 
application to the principal power of the beast. No 
kingdom can properly be called holy but that of Jesus ; 
therefore it would be blasphemy to unite this epithet 
with any other power. But it must be horribly bias 
phemous to apply it to the German empire, the grand 
supporter of antichrist from his very rise to temporal 
authority. Can that empire be holy which has killed 
the saints, which has professed and supported with all 
; its might an idolatrous system of worship ? It is impos¬ 
sible. Therefore its assumption of sacred , or Ao/y, 
(which appellation was originally given to the empire 

1 


OB EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM*. 

from its being the main support of what is termed lilt 
holy Catholic church, the emperor being styled, on 
this account, Christ’s temporal vicar upon earth : see 
Ccesarini Furstenerii Tractatus De Suprematu Princi- 
pum Germanise, cc. 31, 32.) is, in the highest sense 
the words can be taken, a name of blasphemy . The 
name of blasphemy is very properly said to be upon 
the seven heads of the beasts, or seven electorates of the 
German empire, because the electors are styled Sacri 
Imperii Principes ETcctores , Princes, Electors of the 
Holy empire ; Sacri Romani Imperii Electores , Elec 
tors of the Holy Roman empire. 

Verse 2. And the beast which 1 saw icas like unto a’ 
leopard —This similitude of the beast to a leopard ap¬ 
pears to be an allusion to the third beast of Daniel, 
which is well known to represent the empire of the 
Greeks. The Latin empire greatly resembled the mod¬ 
ern empire of the Greeks; for, that the power of the 
Greeks was still said to be like a leopard, even after 
its subjugation by the Romans, is evident from the 12th 
verse of the seventh chapter of Daniel, “ As concern¬ 
ing the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion ta¬ 
ken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season 
and time.” The Latin empire was, in the first place, 
like to its contemporary, because both adhered to an 
idolatrous system of worship, professedly Christian, 
but really antichristian ; and it is well known that the 
Greek and Latin churches abound in monstrous absur¬ 
dities. Secondly , both empires were similar in their 
opposition to the spread of pure Christianity ; though 
it must be allowed that the Latins far outstripped the 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 99 

Greeks in this particular. Thirdly , both empires were 
similar in respect to the civil authority being; powerful¬ 
ly depressed by the ecclesiastical; though it must be 
granted the authority of the Latin church was more 
strongly marked, and of much longer continuance. 
The excommunication of the Greek emperor by the 
patriarch Arsenins, and the consequences of that ex¬ 
communication, afford a remarkable example of the 
great power of the Greek clergy. But the beast of 
Saint John, though in general appearance it resembles 
a leopard, yet differs from it in having feet like those of 
a bear . The second beast of Daniel was likened to a 
bear, and there can be no doubt that the kingdom ot 
the Medes and Persians was intended; and it is very 
properly likened to this animal,, because it w as one of 
the most inhuman governments that ever existed; and 
a bear is the well known Scripture emblem of cruelty .— 
See 2. Sam. xvii. 8. and Hos. xiii. 8. Is not cruelty 
a striking characteristic of the papal Latin empire ? 
Have not the subjects of this empire literally trampled 
to death all those in their power, who would not obey 
their idolatrous requisitions? 

In Fox’s Book of Martyrs, and other works which 
treat upon this subject, will be found a melancholy cat¬ 
alogue of the horrid tortures and most lingering 
deaths which they have obliged great numbers oi 
Christians to suffer. In this sense, the feet of the beast 
were as the feet of a bear . Another particular in which 
the beast differed from a leopard, was in having a 
mouth like a lion. “ It is,” says Dr. More, “ like the 
•Babylonish kingdom (the first beast of Daniel, which 


100 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

is likened to a lion,) in its cruel decrees against such 
as will not obey their idolatrous edicts, nor worship 
the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 
Their stubbornness must be punished by a hot fiery 
furnace ; fire and fagot must be prepared for them that 
will not submit to this New Roman idolatry.” 

And the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, 
and, great authority. —It was said of the dragon in 
chap. xii. 8. that his place was found no more in heav¬ 
en ; the dragon here cannot, therefore, be the heathen 
Roman empire, as this was abolished previously to the 
rising up of the beast. It must then allude to the res¬ 
toration of one of the draconic heads of the beast, as 
will be seen in the explanation of the following verse, 
and more fully in the notes on chap, xvii 

Verse 3. And I saw one of his heads as it were 
wounded to death —This is the second and last place 
where the heads of the beast are mentioned with any 
description ; and, therefore, the meaning here must be 
forms of government, as these w r ere noticed last in the 
angel’s double explanation. The head that was woun¬ 
ded to death can be no other than the seventh draconic 
head, which was the sixth head of the beast, viz. the im¬ 
perial power ; for “this head,” as Bishop Newton ob¬ 
serves, “ was, as it were, wounded to death, when the 
Roman empire was overturned by the northern nations, 
and an end was put to the very name of emperor in 
Momyllus Augustulus.” It was so wounded that it 
was wholly improbable that it could ever rise again to 
considerable power ; for the western empire came into 
the possession of several barbarious nations of indepen¬ 
dent interests. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 101 

And his deadly wound was healed —This was effec¬ 
ted by Charlemagne, who, with his successors, assum¬ 
ed all the marks of the ancient emperors of the west, 
with the titles of Semper Augustus, Sacred Majesty, 
First Prince of the Christian world, Temporal Chief 
of the Christian people, and Rector or Temporal Chief 
of the Faithful in Germany : Mod. Universal History, 
Vol. XXXII. p. 79. But it is said in ver. 9, that 
the dragon gave the beast his power, his armies, or mil¬ 
itary strength ; i. e. lie employed all his imperial pow¬ 
er in defence of the Latin empire, which supported the 
Latin church. He also gave his seat, literally, his 
throne , to him ; that is, his whole empire formed an in¬ 
tegral part of the Latin empire, by its conversion to 
the Roman Catholic faith. He also gave him great 
authority . This is literally true of the Roman empire 
of Germany, which, by its great power and influence 
in the politics of Europe, extended the religion of the 
empire over the various states and monarchies of Eu¬ 
rope ; thus incorporating them, as it were, in one vast 
empire, by uniting them in one common faith. 

And all the world wondered after the heast. —As 
-the original word signifies earth, and not world as in 
our translation, the Latin world, which is the earth of 
the beast, is here intended; and the meaning of the 
passage consequently is, *hat the -whole body of the 
Roman Catholics were affected with great astonish¬ 
ment at the mighty sway of the Latin empire, consid¬ 
ering it as a great and holy power. 

Verse 4. And they worshipped the dragon — Wor¬ 
shipping the dragon here evidently means the volun- 

I* 


102 expected Christian millennium. 

tary religious subjection of the members of the Latin 
church to the revived western empire, because of the 
eminent part it has taken in the support of their faith. 

And they worshipped the beast —Not only the drag¬ 
on or revived western empire was worshipped ; the 
beast, the whole Latin empire, is a partaker in the ado¬ 
ration. The manner in which it is worshipped con* 
sists in the subjects of it— 

Saying, Who is like unto the beasts —Is it not the 
only holy pow r er in the universe ? Is it possible for 
any person not a subject of it to be saved ? 

Who is able to make war with him —Can any na¬ 
tion successfully fight with it ? Is not the Roman em¬ 
pire, which is its most principal bulwark, invictissimum > 
most invincible ? lnvictissimus, most invincible, was 
the peculiar attribute of the emperors of Germany. 
See Modern Universal History, Vol. XXXII. p, 197. 

Verse 5. And there was given unto him a mouth 
speaking great things —That is, there was given to the 
rulers of the Latin empire, who are the mouth of the 
beast, (and particularly the Roman emperors of Ger¬ 
many,) power to assume great and pompous titles, in¬ 
dicative of their mighty sway over many subjugated 
countries, (see the imperial instruments of the middle 
centuries in the Corps Diplomatique :) and also to utter 
against their opponents the most terrible edicts. 

And blasphemies -^-The system of worship supported 
by the beast is a system of blasphemy ; as there will be 
occasion to show presently. 

And power was given unto him to continue forty and 
tioo months~As these forty-two months are prophetic. 


103 


EXPT.CTrp CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

they must mean so many years as there are days con¬ 
tained in them, viz. 1260, each month containing 30 
days. 1 he beast, therefore, will continue in existence at 
least 1260 years : And I will add, the termination of this 
period will doubtless be accomplished at the end of the 
next century, having commenced his existence A.D.740. 

Verse 6. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy 
against God , to blaspheme his name —The Latin em¬ 
pire is here represented as a blasphemous power in 
three respects: first, he blasphemes the name of God, 
This lias been most notoriously the case with the differ¬ 
ent popish princes, who continually blaspheme the sa¬ 
cred names of God, by using them in their idolatrous 
worship. The mouth of blasphemy against God can¬ 
not be more evidentthan in the following impious words 
which form a part of the Golden Bull published by 
Charles IV. in January, 1356: “But thou, envy, how 
often hast thou attempted to ruin by division the Chris¬ 
tian empire, which God hath founded upon the three 
•cardinal virtues, faith, hope, and charity, as upon a 
holy and indivisible Trinity ; vomiting the old venom 
•of discord among the seven electors, who are the pil¬ 
lars and seven principal members of the holy empire ; 
bv the brightness of whom the holy empire ought to 
be illuminated as by seven torches, the light of which 
is reinforced by the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.” 

And his tabernacle —Tabernacle is any kind of 
dwelling-place; and, in an eminent sense among the 
Jews, was a kind of tent to take up and down, as occa¬ 
sion required ; which was, as it were, the palace of the 
^Alost High, the dwelling of the God of Israel. It was 


104 


EXTECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM 


divided into two partitions, one called The Holy Place, 
and the other The Most Holy Place; in the latter of 
which, before the building of the temple, the ark of the 
'covenant was kept, which was a symbol of God’s gra¬ 
cious presence with the Jewish church. All this the 
author of the Epistle to the Hebrew s, in the eighth and 
ninth chapters, explains to prefigure the human nature 
of Christ. The beast’s blasphemy of the tabernacle of 
God is, therefore, as Dr. More and others properly ob¬ 
serve, his impious doctrine of transubstantiation, in 
which it is most blasphemously asserted that the sub¬ 
stance of the bread and wine in the sacrament, is liter¬ 
ally converted by the consecration of the priest, into 
the very body and blood of Jesus Christ! This doc¬ 
trine was first advanced among the Latins, in the tenth 
century; and in 1215 fully received as an article of 
the Roman Catholic faith. It is for the pages of ec¬ 
clesiastical history to record the incredible numbers 
which have been martyred by the papists for their non¬ 
reception of this most unscriptural and antichristian 
doctrine. 

And them that dwell in heaven .—By heaven is here 
meant the throne of God, and not the throne of the 
beast, because it is against God the beast blasphemes* 
This must, therefore, allude to his impious adoration 
of the saints and angels, whose residence is in heaven. 
He blasphemes against God, by paying that adoration 
to the celestial inhabitants, which belongs to God alone. 
That this sort of worship has been, and still is, kept 
up among the Roman Catholics, their mass-book is a 
sufficient evidence. .. 


i 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


105 


Verse 7. And it was given unto him to inaJce war 
with the saints, and to overcome them —“ Who can 
,make any computation,” says Bishop Newton, “ or 
even frame any conception, of the numbers of pious 
Christians who have fallen a sacrifice to the bigotry 
and cruelty of Rome ? Mode upon the place hath ob¬ 
served, from good authorities, that in the war with the 
Albigenses and Waldenses, there perished of these poor 
creatures, in France alone, a miUion. From the first 
institution of the Jesuits^ to the year 1580, that is, in 
little more than thirty years, nine hundred thousand 
orthodox Christians were slain, and these all by the 
common executioner. In the space of scarce thirty 
years, the inquisition destroyed, by various kinds of 
torture, a hundred and fifty thousand Christians. San¬ 
ders himself confesses, that an innumerable multitude 
of Lollards and Sacramentarians were burnt through¬ 
out all Europe; who, yet, he says, were not put to 
death by the pope and bishops, but by the civil magis¬ 
trates.” The dragon, in a new shape, or Roman em¬ 
pire of Germany, acted a very conspicuous part in this 
nefarious warfare against the remnant of the woman’s, 
seed, who kept the commandments of God, and had the 
testimony of Jesus Christ.—See the imperial edict of 
Frederic II. against heretics, in Liroborch’s History of 
the Inquisition. 

And 'power was given him over all kindreds , and 
longues , a?ul nations —As the book of the Revelation 
is a prophecy of all that should come upon the Chris¬ 
tian world till the end of time; all kindreds , and 
tongues, and nations , must imply the whole Christian 


?lM EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 

world. That the Latin empire, in the course of its 
reign, has had the extensive power here spoken of, is 
evident from history. It is well known that the pro¬ 
fession of Christianity was chiefly confined within the 
limits of the Greek and Latin empires, till the period of 
t he Reformation. By means of the Crusades, the Lat¬ 
ins extended their empire over several provinces of the 
Greeks* In 1097, Baldwin extended his conquest over 
the hills of Armenia, and the plain of Mesopotamia, 
sind founded the first principality of the Franks, or 
•Latins; which subsisted fifty-four years, beyond the 
Euphrates. In 1204 the Greeks were expelled Con¬ 
stantinople by the Latins, who set up an empire there 
which continued about fifty-seven years. The total 
■overthrew of the Latin states in the East soon follow¬ 
ed the recovery of Constantinople by the Greeks : and 
in 1291 the Latin empire in the East was entirely dis¬ 
solved. Thus the Latins have had power over the 
whole world professedly Christian : hut it is not said 
that the whole world was in utter subjection to him ; 
for we read in the following verse— 

Verse 8. And all that dwell upon the earth shall 
worship him , whose names are not written in the book 
of °f rf Le Lamb —The earth here is the Latin 
world , as has been observed before in similar cases. 
The meaning, therefore, is, that all the corrupt part of 
mankind, who are inhabitants of the Latin world, shall 
submit to the religion of the empire, except, as Bishop 
Newton expresses it, “ those faithful few, whose names, 
as citizens of heaven, were enrolled in the registers ol 
life,” 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. TOT 

Slain from the foundation of the world —That is* 
of the Christian world; for this has been shown to be 
the meaning of all kindreds , and tongues , and nations. 
The year of the crucifixion is properly the commence¬ 
ment of Christianity, as the apostles then first began 
to promulgate the religion of Christ with the Holy 
Ghost sent down from heaven. But as Jesus Christ 
was in the Divine purpose appointed from the founda¬ 
tion of the world to redeem man by His blood, Hr 
therefore is, in a very eminent sense, the Lamb slain 
from the foundation of the world, i, c. from the cre¬ 
ation. 

Verse 9. if any man have an car , let Aim hear .— 
These words are evidently introduced to impress the 
reader with the awfulness of what has just been spo¬ 
ken, all shall worship him whose names arc not written 
in the hook o f life ; as well as to fix his attention upon 
the following words :— 

Verse 10. He that leadeth into captivity , shall go 
into captivity— -/The Latin empire here spoken of must 
go into captivity , because it has led into captivity, by 
not only propagating among the various nations its 
abominable antichristian system, but also in compelling 
them to embrace it under penalty of forfeiting the pro¬ 
tection of the empire. 

He that killeth ivith the sword must be killed by flic 
sword —The Latin empire must be also broken to 
pieces by the sword, because it has killed the saints of 
God. This prophecy will not receive its full accom¬ 
plishment till the kingdoms of this world become the 
kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ .. 


108 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

Here is the patience and the faith of the saints .***■=■ 
By these words, as Dr. Mitchell observes, “ God calL 
upon His saints to keep in view, under all their perse¬ 
cutions, His retributive justice: there is no violence 
that has been exercised upon them but what shall be re¬ 
taliated upon the cruel and persecuting government 
and governors of the Latin empire.” 

Verse 11 . And 1 beheld another beast coining up 
out of the earth —As a beast has already been shown 
to be the symbol of a kingdom or empire , the rising up 
of this second beast must, consequently, represent the 
rising up of another empire . This beast comes up out 
of the earth; therefore it is totally different from the 
preceding, which rose up out of the sea . Earth here 
means the Latin world , for this word has been shown 
to import this already in several instances; the rising 
up of the beast out of this earth must, consequentlj T , 
represent the springing up of some power out of a 
state of subjection to the Latin empire: therefore the 
beast, here called another beast , is another Latin em» 
pire . This beast is the spiritual Latin empire, or, in 
other words, the Romish hierarchy ; for with no other 
power can the prophetic description, yet to be exam¬ 
ined, be shown to accord. In the time of Charlemagne, 
the ecclesiastical power w as in subjection to the civil ; 
and it continued to be so for a long time after his death ; 
therefore the beast, whose deadly w ound was healed, 
ruled over the whole Latin world, both clergy and 
laity ; these, consequently, constituted but one beast or 
empire. But the Latin clergy kept continually gain¬ 
ing more and more influence in the civil affairs of the 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


109 


empire; and in the tenth century their authority was 
greatly increased. In the subsequent centuries the 
power of the Rornish hierarchy ascended even above 
that of the emperors; and led into captivity the kings 
of the whole Latin world, as there will be occasion to 
show in commenting upon the following verses. Thus 
the Romish hierarchy was at length entirely exempted 
from the civil power, and constituted another beast , as 
it became entirely independent of the secular Latin em¬ 
pire. And this beast came up out of the earth ; that 
is, the Latin clergy, which composed a part of the 
earth , or Latin world, raised their authority against 
that of the secular powers; and, in process of time, 
wrested the superintendence of ecclesiastical affairs 
from the secular princes. 

And he had two horns —As the seven-headed beast 
is represented as having ten horns , which signifies so 
many kingdoms leagued together to support the Latin 
church, so the beast which rises out of the earth has 
also two horns , which must, consequently, represent 
two kingdoms ; for, if horns of a beast mean kingdoms 
in one part of the Apocalypse, kingdoms must be in¬ 
tended by this symbol whenever it is used in a similar 
way in any other part of this hook. As the second 
beast is the spiritual Latin empire, the two horns of 
this beast denote that the empire thus represented is 
composed of two distinct spiritual powers. These, 
therefore, can be no other, as Bishop Newton and Fa¬ 
ber properly observe, than the two grand independent 
branches of the Romish hierarchy, viz. the Latin 
4'lergv, regular and secular. “ The first of thes$ 

K 


110 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


comprehends all the various monastic orders ; the 
second comprehends the whole body of parochial 
clergy.” These two grand branches of the hierarchy 
originally constituted but one dominion, as the monks, 
as well as the other clergy, were in subjection to the 
Bishops : but the subjection of the monks to their di¬ 
ocesans became by degrees less apparent; and in pro¬ 
cess of time, through the influence and authority of 
the Roman pontiffs, they were entirely exempted from 
all episcopal jurisdiction, and thus became a spiritual 
power entirely independent of that of the secular 
clergy. 

Like a lamb —As lamb , in other parts of the Apoca¬ 
lypse, evidently means Christ, who is, the Lamb of 
God which taketh away the sin of the world , it must 
have a similiar import in this passage : therefore the 
meaning here is evidently that the two horns of the 
beast,- or the regular and secular clerg}', profess to be 
the ministers of Christ; to be like him in meekness and 
humility ; and to teach nothing that is contrary to god¬ 
liness. The two-horned beast, or spiritual Latin em¬ 
pire, has in reality the name, and in the eyes of the Lat¬ 
in world the appearance, of a Christian power. But 
he is only so in appearance, and that alone among his 
deluded votaries; for when he spake, 

He spake as a dragon —The doctrines of the Rom¬ 
ish hierarchy are very similar to those contained in the 
old heathen worship; for he has introduced “ a new 
species of idolatry nominally different, but essentially 
the same, the worship of angels and saints, instead o* 
the gods and demigods of antiquity.** 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. Hi 

Verse 12. And he exerciscth all the power of the 
first beast before him —In the preceding verse the Uvo- 
horned beast was represented as rising out of the earth, 
that is, obtaining gradually more and more influence 
in the civil affairs of the Latin world. Here lie is rep ¬ 
resented as having obtained the direction and manage¬ 
ment of all the power of the first beast, or secular Lat¬ 
in empire, before him. That the Romish hierarchy 
has had the extensive powder here spoken of, is evident 
from history: for tl>e civil power was in subjection to 
the ecclesiastical. The parochial clergy, one of the 
horns of the second beast, have had great secular juris¬ 
diction over the whole Latin w r orld. Two-thirds of 
the estates of Germany were given by the three Othos, 
who succeeded each other, to ecclesiastics ; and in the 
other Latin monarchies the parochial clergy possessed 
great temporal power. Y et, extraordinary as the pow¬ 
er of the secular clergy was in all parts of the Latin 
world, it was but feeble when compared with that of 
the monastic orders, which constituted another horn of 
the beast. The Mendicant Friars, the most considera' 
ble of the regular clergy, first made their appearance 
in the early part of the thirteenth century. These fri¬ 
ars were divided by Gregory X. in a general council 
which he assembled at Lyons in 1272, into the four 
following societies or denominations, viz. the Domini¬ 
cans, the Franciscans, the Carmelites, and the Hermits 
of St. Augustine. “ As the pontiffs,” observes Mo- 
sheim, “ allowed these four mendicant orders the liber¬ 
ty of travelling wherever they thought proper, of con¬ 
versing with persons of all ranks, of instructing the 


\VZ EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM# 

youth and the multitude wherever they went; and as 
these monks exhibited, in their outward appearance 
and manner of life, more striking marks of gravity 
and holiness than were observable in the other monas¬ 
tic societies, they arose all at once to the very summit 
of fame, and were regarded with the utmost esteem 
and veneration throughout all the countries of Eu¬ 
rope* The enthusiastic attachment to these sanctimo¬ 
nious beggars went so far, that, as vve learn from the 
most authentic records, several cities were divided, or 
cantoned out, into four parts, with a view to these four 
orders ; the first part was assigned to the Dominicans, 
the second to the Franciscans, the third to the Carmel-, 
ites, and the fourth to the Augustinians. The people 
were unwilling to receive the sacraments from any oth¬ 
er hands than those of the Mendicants, to whose 
churches they crow'ded to perform their devotions, while 
living; and were extremely desirous to deposit there? 
also their remains after death; all which occasioned 
grievous complaints among the ordinary priests, to 
whom the cure of souls was committed, and who con¬ 
sidered themselves as the spiritual guides of the multi¬ 
tude. Nor did the influence and credit of the Mendi¬ 
cants end here; for we find in the history of this ( 13 th 
century) and the succeeding ages, that they were em¬ 
ployed not only in spiritual matters, but also in tempo¬ 
ral and political affairs of the greatest consequence ; 
in composing the differences of princes, concluding 
treaties of peace, concerting alliances, presiding in 
cabinet councils, governing courts, levying taxes, and 
other occupations not only remote from, but absolutely 


I 


ETPECTFf) trrmiSTIA'N MTLLENiMUM. * 113 

» • *|i ' • ’ 

inconsistent with, the monastic character and profes- 
sion. We must not, however, imagine that all the 
.Mendicant Friars attained to the same degree of repu¬ 
tation and authority ; for the power of the Dominicans 
and Franciscans surpassed .greatly that of the two oth¬ 
er orders, and rendered them singularly conspicuous 
in the eyes of the world. During three .centuries these 
two fraternities governed, with an almost universal and 
absolute sway, both state and church ; Idled the most 
eminent posts, -ecclesiastical and civil; taught in the 
universities and -churches -with an authority before 
which all opposition was silent; and maintained the 
pretended majesty and prerogatives of the Roman 
.pontiffs against kings, princes, bishops and heretics, 
■with incredible ardour and equal success. The Do¬ 
minicans and Franciscans were, before the Reforma¬ 
tion, what the Jesuits have been since that happy and 
glorious period, the very soul of the hierarchy, the en¬ 
gines of state, the secret springs of all the motions oi 
the one and the other, and the authors and directors of 
every great and important event in the religious and 
political world.” Thus the Romish hierarchy has ex¬ 
ercised all the power of the first beast in his sight , both 
temporal and spiritual; and, therefore, with such asto¬ 
nishing influence as this over secular princes, it was no 
difficult matter forliim to cause— 

The-earth , and them that dwell therein , to'worship 
the first beast , whose deadly wound was healed. —Thai 
is, he causes the whole Rutin world to submit to the 
authority ©f the Latin empire, with the revived wester:; 
^empire at its head; persuading them that such subnm- 

K* 


114 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


sion is beneficial to their spiritual interests, and abso~ 
lutely necessary for their salvation. Here it is observ¬ 
able that both beasts have dominion over the same 
earth; for it is expressly said, that the second beast 
causcth the earth and them that dwell thereinto worship 
the first beast: therefore it is, as Bishop Newton and 
others have observed, imperium in imperio , “ an em¬ 
pire within an empire.” We have, consequently, the 
fullest evidence that the two beasts consist in the divis¬ 
ion of the great Latin empire, by the usurpation of the 
Latin clergy, into two distinct empires, the one secular, 
the other spiritual \ and both united in one antichristian 
design, viz. to diffuse their most abominable system of 
idolatry, over the whole earthy and to extend the sphere 
of their domination. Here we have also an illustration 
of that remarkable passage in chap. xvi. 10. the king¬ 
dom of the beast, i. e. the kingdom of the Latin king¬ 
dom ; which is apparently a solecism, but in reality ex¬ 
pressed with wonderful precision. The fifth vial L 
poured out vpon the throne of the beast, and ms KING¬ 
DOM is darkened, i. e. the Latin kingdom, in subjection 
to the Latin kingdom, or the secular Latin empire. 

Verse 13. And he docth great wonders -—That we 
may have the greatest assurance possible that the two- 
horned beast is the Latin empire, it is called, in chap, 
xix. 20. a passage illustrative of the one now under 
consideration, the false prophet, “ than which,” as 
Bishop Newton observes, “ there cannot be a stronger 
or plainer argument to prove that false doctors or teach¬ 
ers were particularly designed ;” for prophet, in the 
beripture style, is not unfrequeutly used for a preacher 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM, lib 

€»r expounder of God’s word. See 1. Cor. xiv. It 
hence follows that the two-horned beast is an empire 
of false doctors or teachers. 

In order to establish the Latin church upon a founda¬ 
tion that can never fail, the false prophet doeth great 
wonders; he attempts tiro most wonderful and prodi¬ 
gious exploits, and is crowned with incredible success. 
He lias the art to persuade his followers that the clergy 
of the church of Rome are the only true ministers of 
Christ; that they have such great influence in the 
court of heaven as to be able not only to forgive sins, 
but also to grant indulgences in sin, by paying certain 
stipulated sums. He persuades them too that they can 
do works of supererogation. He pretends that an iif- 
cretlible number of miracles have been wrought, and 
are still working, by the Almighty, as so many evi¬ 
dences of the great sanctity of the Latin church; and 
the false prophet has such an astonishing influence over 
his flock, as to cause them to believe all his fabulous 
legends and lying wonders. He pretends also (and is 
believed !) that his power is not confined to this w orld ; 
that he is able by his prayers to deliver the souls of the 
deceased from what he calls purgatory, a place which 
lie has fabled to exist for the purification of sinful souls 
after their departure from this world. His wonderful 
exploits in being aide to induce men, possessed of rea¬ 
sonable faculties, to believe his monstrous absurdities, 
do not end here ; he even 

Malicth fire come down from heaven—in the sight of 
men — Fire , in Scripture, when it signifies ivrath , re¬ 
presents that species of indignation which is attended 


11G EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


with the destruction of whatever is the cause of if* 
Thus the ivrath of God is likened to fire, Psa. xviii. 
7, 8. Jer. iv. 4.—Therefore the fire which the false 
prophet bringeth down from heaven upon the earth , is 
the fiery indignation which he causes to come down 
from the heaven or throne of the Latin empire upon all 
those of the earth or Latin world who rebel against 
his authority. All this has been fulfilled in the Romish 
hierarchy: the Latin clergy have denominated all 
those that oppose their authority, heretics; they have 
instituted tribunals to try the cause of heresy ; and all 
those that would not submit to their idolatry, they have 
•condemned to various kinds of tortures and deaths* 
It is said of the false prophet that he bringeth fire from 
heaven upon the earth; that is to •say, he will only try 
the cause of heresy, and pass the sentence of condem¬ 
nation ; he will not suifcr an ecclesiastic to execute the 
sentence of the court :; the destroying fire he causeth to 
come down from the heaven or throne of the Latin em¬ 
pire; secular princes and magistrates must execute the 
sentence of death upon all that are capitally condemned 
by the spiritual power* He maketh fire come down 
from heaven; he compels secular princes to assist him 
against heretics ; and if any rebel against his authori¬ 
ty, he immediately puts them under the bond of the 
•anathema, so that they are deprived of their offices, 
and exposed t© the insults and persecution of their 
brethren. Thus the false prophet deceives the Latin 
world by the means of those miracles which he had pow¬ 
der to do in the sight of the beast. Under the appear- 
amce of great sanctity, he persuades men to believe all 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 117 

liis lying doctrines; and enforces his canons and de¬ 
cretals with the sword of the civil magistrate. 

Verse 14. Saying to them, that dwell on the earth , 
that they should make an image to the beast which had 
a wound by the sword and did live .—The image of the 
beast must designate a person who represents in him¬ 
self the whole power of the Latin empire: therefore 
it cannot he the emperor; for though he was, accor¬ 
ding to his own account, sup remum caput Christianita - 
tis, the supreme head of Christendom, yet he was only 
the chief of the Germanic confederation ; and, conse¬ 
quently, was only sovereign of the principal power of 
the Latin empire. The image of the beast must be 
the supreme ruler of the Latin empire ; and as it is 
through the influence of the false prophet that this ini- j 
age is made for the first beast, this great chief must he 
an ecclesiastic. Who this is has been ably shown by 
Bishop Newton-, in his comment on the following 
verse : 

Verse 15. And he had power to give life unto the 
image of the beast , that the image of the beast should, 
both speak , and cause that as many as would not worship 
the imarre of the beast should be killed .—The influence 
of the two-horned beast, or corrupted clergy, is furtiier 
-seeu in persuading and inducing mankind to make an 
image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and 
did live . This image and representative of the beast 
is the pope . He is properly the idol of the church, 
lie represents in himself the whole power of the beast, 
and is the head of all authority, temporal as well as 
spiritual. He is nothing more than a private person, 


118 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


without power and without authority, till the two-horn¬ 
ed beast, or corrupted clergy, by choosing him pope, 
give life unto him, and enable him to speak and utter 
his decrees, and to persecute even to death as many as 
refuse to submit to him, and to worship him. As soon 
as he is chosen pope lie is clothed with the pontifical 
robes and crowned and placed upon the altar, and the 
cardinals come and kiss his feet, which ceremony is 
called adoration. They first elect, and then they wor¬ 
ship him ; as in the medals of Martin V. where tw o are 
represented crowning the pope, and two kneeling be¬ 
fore him with this inscription, Qucm creant ad or ant , 
Whom they create they adore. He is the principle oj 
unity to the ten kingdoms of the beast ; and causeth, 
as far as he is able, all who will not acknowledge his 
supremacy to be put to death. The great ascend¬ 
ancy which the popes have obtained over the kings of 
the Latin world by means of the Romish hierarchy, is 
sufficiently marked in tho history of Europe. As long 
as the great body of the people were devoted to the Ro¬ 
man Catholic idolatry, it was in vain for the kings of 
the different Roman Catholic countries to oppose the 
increasing usurpations of the popes. They ascended, 
in spite of all opposition, to the highest pinnacle of hu¬ 
man greatness; for even the authority of the emperors 
themselves was established or annulled at their pleasure. 
The high-sounding tone of the popes commenced in 
Gregory V1L A. D. 1078, commonly known by the 
name of Hildebrand, who aimed at nothing less than 
universal empire. He published an anathema against 
all who received the investiture of a bishopric or ab» 


bacv lrom the hands of a layman : as also against those 
by whom the investiture should be performed. This 
measure being opposed by Henry IV. emperor of Ger¬ 
many, the pope deposed him from all power and digni¬ 
ty, regal or imperial. See Corps Diplomatique, Tom. 
1. page 5.3. Great numbers of German princes siding 
with the pope, the emperor found himself under the ne- 
cessity of going (in January, 1077) to the bishop of 
Rome to implore his forgiveness, which was not grant¬ 
ed him tiil he had fasted three days, standing from 
morning to evening barefooted, and exposed to the in¬ 
clemency of the weather! In the following century 
the power of the popes was still further increased ; for 
on the 23d of September, 1122, the emperor Henry V. 
gave up all right of conferring the regalia by the cere¬ 
mony of the ring and crosier, and that the chapters and 
communities should be at liberty to till up their own 
vacancies. In this century the election of the Roman 
pontiffs was confined by Alexander ILL to the college 
of cardinals. In the thirteenth century the popes (Dr. 
Mosheim observes) “inculcated that pernicious maxim, 
that the bishop of Rome is the supreme lord of the uni¬ 
verse ; and that neither princes nor bishops, civil gov¬ 
ernors nor ecclesiastical rulers, have any lawful power- 
in church or state but what they derive from him. To 
establish their authority, both in civil and ecclesiastical 
matters, upon the firmest foundation, they assumed to 
themselves the power of disposing of the various offices 
of the church, whether of a higher or more subordinate 
nature, and of creating bishops, abbots, and canons,, 
according to their fancy. The first of the pontiffs who 


120 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM/ 


usurped such an extravagant extent of authority was 
Innocent III. (A. D. 1198—1216.) whose example 
was followed by Honorius III. (A. D. 1216,) Gregory 
IX. (A. D. 1227 ) and several of their successors.’’ 
Thus the plenitude of the papal pow er, (as it is term¬ 
ed,) was not confined to what was spiritual; the Rom¬ 
ish bishops “ dethroned monarchs, disposed of crow ns, 
absolved subjects from the obedience due to their sove¬ 
reigns, and laid kingdoms under interdicts. There 
w as not a state in Europe which had not been disquiet¬ 
ed by their ambition. There was not a throne which 
they had not shaken, nor a prince who did not trem¬ 
ble at their presence.” The point of time in which the 
Romish bishops attained their highest elevation of au¬ 
thority was about the commencement of the 14th cen¬ 
tury. Boniface VIII. who was pope at this time, out¬ 
stripped all his predecessors in the high-sounding tone 
of his public decrees. According to his famous bull, 
Unam Sanctam , published Nov. 16, 1302, “the secu¬ 
lar power is but a simple emanation from the ecclesias¬ 
tical ; and the double power of the pope, founded upon 
Holy scripture, is even an article of faith. “ God,” 
said he, “ has confided to Saint Peter, and to his suc¬ 
cessors, two swords, the one spiritual, the other tem¬ 
poral. The first ought to be exercised by the church 
itself, and the other by secular [towers for the service 
of the church, and according to the w ill of the pope. 
The latter, that is to say, the temporal sword, is in sub¬ 
jection to the former; and the temporal authority de¬ 
pends indispensably on the spiritual power. Finally, 
he adds, it is necessary to the salvation of every human 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


121 


creature to be in subjection to the Roman pontiff.” 
1 lie false prophet SAID “ to them that dwell upon the 
earth, that they should make an image to the beast that 
haci the wound by a sword and did live” that is the 
Romish priesthood preached np trie pope’s supremacy 
over temporal princes ; and through their astonishing 
influence on trie minds of the people, the bishop of 
Rome, at last, became the supreme sovereign of the 
secular Latin empire ; and thus was at the head of all 
authority, temporal and spiritual. 

The papists have, in their various superstitions, pro¬ 
fessed to worship God. But they are said, in the uner¬ 
ring words of prophecy, to worship the dragon, beast, 
and image of the beast; and to blaspheme God: for 
they received as holy those commandments of men that 
stand in direct opposition to the Sacred Scriptures, and 
which have been imposed on them by the Romish bish¬ 
ops, aided by the secular powers. “ God is a Spirit, 
and they who worship Him must worship Him in 
SPIRIT and in TRUTH.” 

Verse 16. And he causeth ally both small and great , 
rich and poor , free and bond to receive a mark —To 
ascertain the meaning of the mark which the two-horn¬ 
ed beast causes all orders and degrees of men in the 
Latin world to receive, we need only refer to chap. xiv. 
11. where the mark imposed by the two-horned beast 
is called the mark of his name. The name of the 
beast is the Latin empire; the mark of his name must, 
'therefore, be his Latin worship ; for this very reason, 
that it is the two-horned beast, or false prophet, who 
causes all descriptions of persons to receive it. Now it 

L 


I 


122 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM". 


is well known that the continual employment of the 1 
Latin clergy is to enforce the Latin idolatry upon their 
flocks. The mass and offices of the church, which are 
in Latin, and contain the sum and substance of their 
idolatrous worship, are of different kinds, and abound 
in impious prayers to the Virgin Mary, and the saints 
and angels. In a word, the Latin warship is the uni¬ 
versal badge of distinction of the Latin church , from 
all other churches on the face of the earth ; and is, 
therefore, the only infallible MARK by which a genuine 
papist can be distinguished from the rest of mankind. 
But the two-horned beast causes all to receive this 
mark— 

In their right hand, or in their foreheads—Right 
hand, in Scripture language, when used figuratively, 
represents the physical power of the person of whom it 
is spoken; and, when applied to God, designates a 
signal manifestation of Divine power against His ene¬ 
mies, and in behalf of His people. See Psa* xvii. 7. 
xx. G. xxi. 8. xlv. 3, 4, Sic. The reception of the 
mark in the right hand must, therefore,, mean that all,, 
so receiving it, devote the whole power of their minds, 
and body for the propagation of the Latin worship, 
and in the eradication of all they denominate heresies 
out of'their church. But some receive the mark in 
their foreheads. By any thing being impressed upon 
the forehead, is meant the public profession of what¬ 
ever is inscribed or marked upon it: see Rev. ix. 4. 
xiv. 1. xxii. 4, &lc. The mark of the beast being re¬ 
ceived on the forehead, therefore, means that all those 
so marked make a public profession of the Latin wor - 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 123 

skij); whereby it is evident to all that they form a part 
of the Latin church. Many may be marked in the 
right hand, who are also marked on their foreheads; 
but it does not follow that those marked on their fore¬ 
heads are also marked in their right hand ; that is to 
saj’, it is not every individual that complies with the 
Latin worship, who, to the utmost of his power, en¬ 
deavours to propagate his religious system. Hence the 
propriety of the words. “He causeth all—to receive 
a mark in their right hand, Git in their foreheads.” 

Verse 17. And that no man might buy or sell , save 
he that had the mark —“ If any,” observes Bishop 
Newton, “ dissent from the stated and authorised forms, 
they are condemned and excommunicated as heretics ; 
and in consequence of that, they are no longer suffer¬ 
ed to buy or sell; they are interdicted from traffic and 
commerce, and all the benefit of civil society. So Ro 
ger Hoveden relates of William the Conqueror, that he 
was so dutiful to the pope that he would not permit 
any one in his power to buy or sell any thing whom 
lie found disobedient to the apostolic see. So the can¬ 
on of the council of Lateran, under pope Alexander 
III. made against the Waldenses and Albigenses, en¬ 
joins, upon pain of anathema, that no man presume to 
entertain or cherish them in his house or land, or exer¬ 
cise traffic with them. The synod of Tours in France, 
under the same pope, orders, under the like intermina- 
lion, that no man should presume to receive or assist 
them, no not so much as to hold any communion with 
them in selling or buying; that, being deprived of the 
comfort of humanity, they may be compelled to repent 


124 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

of the error of their way.” In the tenth and eleventh 
centuries, the severity against the excommunicated was 
carried to so high a pitch, that nobody might come 
near them, not even their own wives, children, or ser¬ 
vants ; they forfeited all their natural legal rights and 
privileges, and were excluded from all kinds of offices. 
The form of excommunication in the Romish church 
is to take lighted torches, throw them upon the ground 
with curses and anathemas, and trample them out under 
feet to the ringing of the bells. It is in this, and simi¬ 
lar ways, that the false prophet has terrified the Latin 
world, and kept it in subjection to the secular and 
spiritual powers. Those interdicted by the two-horn- 
vd beast from all offices of civil life, are also such as 
have not— the name of the beast, or the number of his 
name. 

Having thus far described the beast rising out of the 
with seven heads, ten horns and ten crowns, and 
the beast coming out of the earth with two horns, we 
proceed to give an account of the great whore which 
sat upon many waters; her description, name and con¬ 
duct, as signified by the Revelator, Chap. xvii.— See 
Dr. Clark. 

Verse 1 . And there came one of the seven angels 
which had the seven vials, and talked, with me, saying 
unto me, Come hither, I will show unto thee the judg¬ 
ment of the great whore that sittcth upon manij wa¬ 
ters. —That idolatrous worship is frequently represent¬ 
ed in Scripture under the character of a whore or whor - 
{lorn, is evident from numerous passages which it is 
unnecessary to quote.—See 1 Chron. v. 25. Ezek, xvL 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


125 


*xiii. &c. The woman mentioned ncre is called a 
great whore , to denote her excessive depravity, and 
the awful nature of her idolatry. She is also represen¬ 
ted as sitting upon many waters , to show the vast extent 
of her influence.—See on ver. 13. 

Verse 2. With whom the kings of the earth have 
committed fornication , and the inhabitants of the earth 
have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.— 
What an awful picture this is of the state of the reli¬ 
gion of the w orld, in subjection to this whore. Khigs 
have committed spiritual fornication with her, and their 
subjects have drunk deep, dreadfully deep, into the doc¬ 
trine of her abominable errors. 

Verse 3. So he carried me away in the spirit into 
the wilderness —This wilderness into which the apostle 
w r as carried, is the desolate state of the true church of 
Christ, in one of the wings of the once mighty Roman 
empire. It was a truly awful sight, a terrible desert, a 
waste-howling wilderness ; for when he came thith¬ 
er, he— 

Saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of 
siames of blasphemy , having seven heads and tenhorns .— 
No doubt can now be entertained that this woman is 
the Latin church ; for she sits upon the beast with sev¬ 
en heads and ten horns, w hich has been already proved 
to be the Latin empire, because this empire alone con¬ 
tains the number 6GG.—See on chap. xiii. This is a 
representation of the Latin church in her highest state 
of antichristian prosperity ; for she SITS UPON the scar¬ 
let-coloured beast, a striking emblem of her complete 
domination over the secular Latin empire. The state 


126 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


of the Latin church from the commencement ot the 
fourteenth century to the time of the Reformation, may 
be considered that which corresponds to this prophet¬ 
ic description in the literal and extensive sense of the 
words : for during this period she was at her highest 
pitch of worldly grandeur and temporal authority* 
The beast is full of names of blasphemy ; and it is well 
known that the nations, in support of the Latin or Ro ¬ 
mish church, have abounded in blasphemous appella¬ 
tions, and have not blushed to attribute to themselves 
and to their church the most sacred titles ; not only 
blaspheming by the improper use of sacred names, but 
sven by applying to its bishops those names which 
alone belong to God; for God hath expressly declar¬ 
ed that He will not give his glory to another, neither 
his praise to graven images. 

Verse 4. And the woman was arrayed in purple and 
scarlet colour, and decked with gold, and precious stones , 
and pearls, having a golden cup vi her hand, full of 
*abominations and filthiness of her fornications —This 
strikingly represents the most pompous and costly man¬ 
ner in which the Latin church has held forth to the na¬ 
tions the rites and ceremonies of its idolatrous and cor¬ 
rupt worship. 

Verse 5. And upon her forehead was a name writ¬ 
ten, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Har¬ 
lots, and Abominations of the Earth. —This inscrip¬ 
tion being written upon her forehead is intended to show 
that she is not ashamed of her doctrines, but publicly 
professes and glories in them before the nations: she 
has, indeed, a whore's forehead; she has refused to be. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN 5IILLENNIC3T. 1-27 


ashamed. The inscription on her forehead is exactly 
the portraiture of the Latin church. This church is 
as Bishop Newton well expresses it, a mystery of ini¬ 
quity. This woman is also called Babylon the Great; 
she is the exact antetype of the ancient Babylon in her 
idolatry and cruelty ; but the ancient city called Bab¬ 
ylon is only a drawing-of her in miniature. This is, 
indeed, Babylon the Great. “ She affects the style and 
title of our Holy Mother the Church ; but she is, in 
truth, the mother of harlots and abominations of the 
earth.” 

Verse G. And I saiv the woman drunken with the 
blood o f the saints , and with the blood of the marty rs of 
Jesus: and when I saw her , 1 wondered with great ad¬ 
miration *—How exactly the cruelties exercised by the 
Latin church against all it has denominated heritics 
correspond with this description, the reader need not 
be informed. 

Verse 7. And the angel said unto me , Wherefore 
didst thou marvel ? 1 will tell thee the mystery of the 
woman , and of the beast which carrieth her , which hath 
the seven heads and ten horns. —The apostle was great¬ 
ly astonished, as well he might, at the woman’s being 
drunk with the blood of the saints , when the beast 
which carried her abounded with sacred appellations, 
such as, holy , most holy , most Christian , sacred , most 
sacred. The angel undertakes to explain to St. John 
the vision, which had excited in him so great astonish¬ 
ment ; and the explication is of such great importance, 
that, had it not been given, the mystery of the dragon 
and the -beast could never have been -satisfactorily ex* 


528 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

plained in all its particulars. The angel begins with 
saying— 

Verse 8. ! The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; 
and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit , and go into 
perdition —The beast is the Latin kingdom, conse¬ 
quently the beast was, that is, was in existence previ¬ 
ously to the time of St. John, for Latinus was the first 
king of the Latins, and Numitor the last; is not now, 
because the Latin nation has ceased long ago to be an 
independent power, and is now under the dominion of 
the Romans; but shall ascend out of the bottomless 
pit, that is, the Latin kingdom, the antichristian power, 
or that which ascendeth out of the abyss, or bottomless 
pit, is yet in futurity. Rut it is added— 

And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder (whose 
names were not written in the book of life from the 
*;foundation of the world,) when they behold the beast 
that teas, and is not, and yet is. —By the earth is here 
meant the Latin world; therefore the meaning is, that 
all who dwell in the Latin world shall adhere to the 
idolatrous and blasphemous religion of the Latin 
church, which is supported by the Latin empire, ex¬ 
cept those who abide by the Sacred Scriptures, receiv¬ 
ing them as the only rule of faith and practice. These 
believe in the true Sacrifice, and keep themselves un¬ 
spotted from the corruption that is in the world. But 
the inhabitants of the Latin world, under the dominion 
of the Romish religion, shall wonder when they behold 
the beast, or Latin empire; that is, as Lord Napier 
remarks, “ shall have in great admiration, reverence, 
^md estimation, this great monarchic.” They shall 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


129 


wonder at it, by considering it the most sacred empire 
in the world, that in which God peculiarly delights: 

but those that so wonder have not their names written 

✓ 

in the book of life, but are such as prefer councils to 
Divine revelation, and take their religion from mis¬ 
sals, and rituals , and legends , instead of the Sacred 
Oracles; hence they are corrupt and idolatrous, and 
no idolater hath inheritance in the kingdom of God. 
In the preceding part of the verse, the beast is con¬ 
sidered in three states, as that which ivas, and is not, 
ttnd shall ascend out of the bottomless pit; here a 
fourth is introduced, and yet is* This is added to show 
that, though the Latins were subjugated by the Ro¬ 
mans, nevertheless the Romans themselves were Lat¬ 
ins ; for Romulus, the founder of their monarchy, was 
a Latin; consequently that denominated in St. John’s 
days the Roman empire , was, in reality, the Latin 
kingdom, for the very language of the empire was the 
Latin ; and the Greek writers, who lived in the time of 
the Roman empire, expressly tell us that tiiose former¬ 
ly called Latins are now named Romans. The mean¬ 
ing of the whole verse is, therefore, as follows: the 
corrupt part of mankind shall have in great admiration 
the Latin empire yet in futurity, which has already 
been, but is now extinct, the Romans having conquered 
it ; and yet is still in being, for though the Latin na¬ 
tion has been subjugated, its conquerors are themselves 
Latins. But it may be objected against the interpreta¬ 
tion here given, that these phrases are spoken of the 
beast upon which the apostle saw the woman, or Latin 
church, sit; for the angel says, the beast that thou saw* 


130 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


est, was and is not , &c.; what reference, therefore, 
can the Latin empire, which supports the Latin church, 
have to the Latin kingdom which subsisted before St. 
John’s tinve, or to the Roman empire, which might 
properly be so denominated ? This objection has 
very great weight at first sight; and cannot be answer¬ 
ed satisfactorily till the angel’s explanation of the 
heads and horns of the beast have been examined; 
therefore it is added— 

Verse 9. Here is the mind which hath wisdom —It 
was said before, chap. xiii. 18. Here is wisdom ; let 
him that hath a mind or understanding , count the num¬ 
ber of the beast. Wisdom , therefore, here means a cor¬ 
rect view of what is intended by the number 666 ; con¬ 
sequently, the parallel passage, Here is the mind which 
hath wisdom, is a declaration that the number of the 
beast must first be understood, before the angel’s in¬ 
terpretation of the vision concerning the whore and 
the beast can admit of a satisfactory explanation. 

The seven heads are seven mountains on ivhich the 

woman sitteth. —This verse lias been almost universal- 

v 

ly considered to allude to the seven hills upon which 
Rome originally stood. But it has been objected that 
modern Rome is not thus situated ; and that, conse¬ 
quently, pagan Rome is intended in the prophecy. 
This is certainly a very formidable objection against 
the generally received opinion among Protestants, that 
papal Rome is the city meant by the woman sitting 
upon seven mountains. It has been already shown 
that the woman here mentioned is an emblem of tht 
Latin Church in her highest state of antichristian pros,* 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 131 

perity ; and, therefore, the city of Rome, seated upon- 
seven mountains, is not at all designed in the prophecy- 
In order to understand this Scripture aright, the word 
mountains must be taken in a figurative and not a lite¬ 
ral sense, as in chap. vi. 14. and xvi. 20. See also Isa. 
ii. 2, 14. Jer. li. 25. Dan. ii. 35, &tc- In which it is 
unequivocally the emblem o (great and mighty power. 
The mountains upon which the woman sitteth, must be 
therefore, seven great powers ; and as the mountains 
are hearts of the beast, they must be the seven greatest 
cmbienc-es of the Latin world. As no other power was 
acknowledged at the head of the Latin empire but that 
of Germany, how can it be said that the beast has seven 
heads? This question can only be solved by the feudal 
constitution of the late Germanic league ; the history 
of which is briefly as follow s:—At first kings alone 
granted fiefs. They granted them to laymen only, 
and to such only who were free ; and the vassal had 
no power to alienate them. Every freeman, and par¬ 
ticularly the feudal tenants, wore subject to the obliga¬ 
tion of military duty, and appointed to guard their 
sovereign’s life, member, mind, and right honour. 
Soon after, or perhaps a little before the extinction of 
the Carlovingian dynasty in France, by the accession 
of the Capetian line, and in Germany by the accession 
of the house of Saxony, fiefs, which had been entirely 
at the disposal of the sovereign, became hereditary. 
Even the offices of duke, count, margrave, &c. were 
transmitted in the course of hereditary descentand 
not long after the right of primogeniture was univer¬ 
sally established. The crown-vassals usurped the 


132 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


sovereign property of the land, with civil and military 
authority over the inhabitants. The possession thus 
usurped they granted out to their immediate tenants; 
and these granted them over to others, in like manner. 
Thus the principal vassals gradually obtained every 
royal prerogative : they promulgated laws, exercised 
the power of life and death, coined money, fixed the 
standard of weights and measures, granted safe-guards, 
entertained a military force, and imposed taxes, with 
every right supposed to be annexed to royalty. In 
their titles they styled themselves dukes, &lc. Dei gra¬ 
tia, by the grace of God, a prerogative avowedly con¬ 
fined to sovereign power. It was even admitted, that, 
if the king refused to do the lord justice, the lord might 
make war upon him. The tenants, in their turn, made 
themselves independant of their vassal-lords, by which 
was introduced an ulterior state of vassallage. The 
king was called the sovereign lord , his immediate vas¬ 
sal was called the suzereign , and the tenants holding ol 
him were called the arrere vassals. (See Butler's Re¬ 
volutions of the Germanic empire, pp. 54—66.) Thus 
the power of the emperors of Germany, which was so 
very considerable in the ninth century, was gradually 
diminished by the means of the feudal system ; and, 
during the anarchy of the long interregnum, occasion¬ 
ed by the interference of the popes in the election of 
the emperors (from 1256 to 1273,) the imperial power 
was reduced almost to nothing. Rudolph of Haps- 
burgh, the founder of the house of Austria, was at 
length elected emperor, because his territories and in¬ 
fluence were so inconsiderable as to excite no jealousy 



133 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

in the German princes, who were willing to preserve the 
forms of constitution, the power and vigour of which 
they had destroyed.—-See Robertson’s Introduction 
to his History of Charles V Before the dissolution 
of the empire, in 180G, Germany “ presented a com* 
plex association of principalities, more or less power¬ 
ful, and more or less connected, with a nominal sove¬ 
reignty in the emperor, as its supreme feudal chief.” 
There were about three hundred princes of the empire, 
each sovereign in his own country, and might enter 
into alliances, and pursue, by all political measures, 
his ow n private interest, as other sovereigns do ; for, 
if even an imperial war were declared, he might 
remain neuter, if the safety of the empire w*ere not 
at stake. 

Here then was an empire of a construction, without 
exception, the most singular and intricate that ever 
appeared in the w orld ; for the emperor was only the 
chief of the Germanic confederation. Germany was, 
therefore, speaking in the figurative language of Scrip¬ 
ture, a country abounding in hills, or containing an 
immense number of distinct principalities. But the 
different German States, (as has been before observed,) 
did not each possess an equal share of power and in¬ 
fluence ; some were more eminent than others. Among 
them there were also a few which might, with the 
greatest propriety, be denominated mountain*, or states 
possessing a very high degree of political importance. 
But the seven mountains on which the woman sits mustf 
have their elevations above all the other eminences in- 
the whole Latin world; consequently, they can be no 

M 


134. EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


t 


other* than the seven electorates of the German empire. 
These were, indeed, mountains of vast eminence j for 
in their sovereigns was vested the sole power of electing 
the head of the empire. But this was not all; for, 
besides the power of electing an emperor, the electors 
had a right to capitulate with the new' head of the em¬ 
pire, to dictate the conditions on which he was to reign, 
and to depose him if he broke those conditions. They 
actually deposed Adolphus of Nassau in 1298, and 
Wenceslaus in 1400. They were sovereign and inde¬ 
pendent princes in their respective dominions, had the 
privilegium de non appellando illimitatum, that of ma¬ 
king war, coining, and exercising every act of sove¬ 
reignty ; they formed a separate college in the diet of 
the empire, and had among themselves a particular co¬ 
venant, or league, called Kurverein; they had prece¬ 
dence of all the other princes of the empire, and even 
ranked with kings. The head of the beast, understood 
in this way, is one of the finest emblems of the Ger¬ 
man constitution which can possibly be conceived ; for 
as the Roman empire of Germany had the precedence 
of all the other monarchies of which the Latin empire 
was composed, the seven mountains very fitly denote 
the seven principal powers of what has been named 
the Holy Roman empire. And, also, as each electo¬ 
rate, by virtue of its union with the Germanic body, 
was more powerful than any other Roman Catholic, 
state of Europe, not so united; so was each electorate, 
in the most proper sense of the word, one of the high¬ 
est elevations in the Latin w orld. The time when the 
seven electorates of the empire were first instituted, is 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


135 


very uncertain. The most probable opinion appears 
to be that which places their origin sometime in the 
thirteenth century. The uncertainty, however, in this 
respect, does not in the least Weaken the evidence ot 
the mountains being the seven electorates, but rather 
confirms it; for, as we have already observed, the rep¬ 
resentation of the woman sitting upon the beast, is a 
figure ol the Latin church in the period of her greatest 
authority, spiritual and temporal ; this we know did 
not take place before the commencement of the four¬ 
teenth century, a period subsequent to the institution ot 
the seven electorates. Therefore the woman sits upon 
the seven mountains, or the German empire ki its elec¬ 
tive aristocratical state : she is said to sit upon them, to 
denote that she has the whole German empire under her 
direction and authority and also that it is her chiel 
support and strength. Supported by Germany, she is 
under no apprehension of being successfully opposed 
by any other power : she sits upon the seven mountains, 
therefore she is higher than the seven highest eminen¬ 
ces of the Latin world; she must therefore, have the 
secular Latin empire under her complete subjection. 
But this state of eminence did not continue above two 
or three centuries : the visible declension of the papal 
power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries occa¬ 
sioned partly by the removal of the papal see from 
Rome to Avignon, and more particularly by the great 
schism from 1377 to 1417, though considered one of 
the remote causes of the Reformation, was at first the 
means of merely transferring the supreme power from 
the pope to a general council, while the dominion pf 


136 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

the Latin church remained much the same. At the 
Council of Constance, March 30, 1415, it was de¬ 
creed “that the synod being lawfully assembled in the 
name of the Holy Ghost, which constituted the general 
council, and represented the whole Catholic church mil¬ 
itant, had its power immediately from Jesus Christ; 
and that every person, of whatsoever state or dignity, 
even the pope himself \ is obliged to obey it in what con¬ 
cerns the faith, the extirpation of schism, and the gen¬ 
eral reformation of the church in its head and mem¬ 
bers.” The council of Basil, of 1432, decreed, “ that 
every one of whate ver dignity or condition, not except¬ 
ing the pope himself who shall refuse to obey the or¬ 
dinances and decrees of this general council, or any 
other, shall be put under penance, and punished. It 
is also declared that th e pope has no power to dissolve 
the general council without the consent and decree of 
the assembly.”—See the third Tome of Du Phi's Ec¬ 
clesiastical History. But what gave the death-blow 
to the temporal sovereignty of the Latin church was 
the light of the glorious Reformation, which first broke 
out in Germany in 1517; and in a very few years 
gained its way not only over several of the great princi¬ 
palities ofGermany, but was also made the established re¬ 
ligion of other popish countries. Consequently, in the 
sixteenth century the woman no longer sat upon the 
seven mountains, the electorates not only having refu¬ 
sed to be ruled by her, but some of them having also 
despised and abandoned her doctrines. The changes, 
therefore, which were made in the seventeenth, eigh¬ 
teenth, and nineteenth centuries in the number of tbe 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


137 


electorates, will not affect in the least the interpreta- 
lion of the seven mountains already given. The seven 
electors were the archbishops of Meritz , Cologne , and 
Ti 'iers , the count palatine of the Rhine , the duke oj 
Saxony , the marquis of Brand enburgh , and the king 
°f Bohemia . But the heads of the beast have a 
double signification,‘for the angel says, 

\ erse 10. And there are seven kings' —Beforfe it was 
said, they are seven mountains ; here, they are also seven 
Icings , which is a demonstration that kingdoms are not 
here meant by mountains ; and this is a further argu¬ 
ment that the seven electorates are represented by 
seven mountains, for though the sovereigns of these 
states ranked with kings, they were not kings; that is 
to say, they were not absolute and sole lords of the ter¬ 
ritories they possessed, independently of the emperor; 
for their states formed a part of the Germanic body. 
But the seven heads of the beast are also seven kings; 
that is to say, the Latin empire has had seven supreme 
forms of government; for king is used in the prophet¬ 
ical writings for any supreme governor of a stale or 
people, as is evident from Deut. xxxiii. 5. where Moses 
is called a king. Of these seven kings, or supreme 
forms of Latin government, the angel informs St 

s' 

John. 

Five are fallen and one is —It is well known that the 
first form of Latin government was that o (kings, which 
continued after the death of Latinus 42S years, till the 
building of Rxnne, B. C. 7.58. After Numitor’s de¬ 
cease, the Albans or Latiiis, instituted the form of a 
republic, and were governed by dictators « We have 

M 4 



138 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


only the names of two, viz. Cluilius and Meteus, Fit- 
fetius or SufTetius ; but as the dictatorship continued 
at least eighty-eight years, there might have been 
others, though their names and actions are unknown. 
In the year before Christ 665, Alba , the metropolis oi 
the Latin nation, was destined by Tullus Hostilius, 
the third king of the Romans, and 'the inhabitants car¬ 
ried to Rome. This put an end to the monarchical 
republic of the Latins : and the Latins elected two an¬ 
nual magistrates, whom Licinius calls dictators, but. 
who are called prcetors by other writers. This form 
of government continued till the time of P. Decius 
Mus, the Roman consul; for Festus, in his fourteenth 
book, informs us, “ that the Albans enjoyed prosperity 
iill the time of king Tullus ; but that Alba being then 
destroyed, the consuls, till the time of P. Decius Mus, 
held a consultation with the Latins at the head of Fe- 
rentina, and the empire w T as governed by the council of 
both nations.” The Latin nation was entirely subju¬ 
gated by the Romans B. C. 336, which put an end to 
the government by prcctors, after it had continued up¬ 
wards of three hundred years. The Latins from this 
time ceased to be a nation, as it respects the name ; 
therefore the three forms of government already men¬ 
tioned w'ere those which the Latins had during that 
period which the angel speaks of, when he says, the 
hcast which thou saivest WAS. ' . 

But as five heads, or forms of government, had fallen 
before St. John’s time, it is evident that the two other 
forms of government which had fallen, must be among 
those of the Romans; first, because though the Latin 



EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


139 


nation so called was deprived of all authority by the 
Romans, yet the Latin power continued to exist, for 
the very conquerors of the Latin nation were Latins ; 
and, consequently, the Latins, though a conquered 
people, continued to have a Latin government. Sec¬ 
ondly, the angel expressly says, when speaking to St. 
John, that one is , that is, the sixth head, or Latin form 
of government, was then in existence, which could be 
no other than the imperial power , this being the only 
independent form of Latin government in the apos¬ 
tolic age. It therefore necessarily follows, that the 
Roman forms of government by which Latium was 
ruled, must be the remaining heads of the beast. Be¬ 
fore the subjugation of the Latins by the Romans, 
four of the Roman or Draconic forms of government 
had fallen, the regal power , the dictatorship , the de- 
ccmvirate , and the consular power of the military tri¬ 
bunes; the last of which was abolished about 368 
years before the commencement of the Christian sera; 
none of these, therefore, ruled over the whole Latin 
nation. But as the Latins were finally subdued about 
336 years B. C. the consular government of the Ro¬ 
mans, which was then the supreme power in the state, 
must be the fourth head of the beast. This form of 
government continued, with very little interruption, till 
the rising up of the triumvirate, the fifth head of the 
beast, R. C. 43. The dictatorship of Sylla and Ju¬ 
lius Csesar could not be considered a new head of the 
beast, as the Latins had already been ruled by it in the 
persons of Cluilius and Fufetius. The sixth head of 
the be-ast, or that which existed in the time of St. John, 


140 • EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

was, consequently, as we have already proved, the im¬ 
perial power of the heathen Caesars, or the seventh 
draconic form of government* 

And the other is not yet come —Bishop Newton con* 
siders the Roman duchy , under the eastern emperor’s 
lieutenant, the exarch of Ravenna, the seventh head of 
the beast. But this cannot be the form of government 
signified by the seventh head, for a head of the beast , as 
we have already shown, is a supreme independent form 
of Latin government ; consequently, the Roman duchy 
cannot be the seventh head, as it was dependent upon 
the exarchate of Ravenna: and the exarchate cannot 
be the head, as itself w as in subjection to the Greek em¬ 
pire. The Rev. G. Faber has ascertained the truth 
exactly, in denominating the Carlovingian patriciate 
the seventh head of the beast. That this was a su¬ 
preme independent form of government is evident from 
history. Gibbon, in speaking of the patriciate, ob¬ 
serves, that “ the decrees of the senate and people 
successively invested Charles Martel and his posterity 
with the honours of patrician of Rome . The lead¬ 
ers—of a powerful nation would have disdained a ser¬ 
vile title and subordinate office; but the reign of the 
Greek emperors was suspended: and, in the vacancy 
of the empire, they derived a more glorious commission 
from the pope and the republic. The Roman ambas¬ 
sadors presented these patricians with the keys of the 
shrine of St. Peter, as a pledge and symbol of sove¬ 
reignty; and with a holy banner, which it was their 
duty to unfurl in defence of the church and city. In 
the time of Charles Martel, and of Pepin, the interpo- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


141 


sition of the Lombard kingdom covered the freedom, 
‘while it threatened the safety, of Rome; and the patri¬ 
ciate represented only the title, the service, the alli¬ 
ance, of these distant protectors. The power and 
policy of Charlemagne annihilated an enemy and im¬ 
posed a master. In his first visit to the capital, he was 
received with all the honours which had formerly been 
paid to the exarch, the representative of the emperor ; 
and these honours obtained some new decorations from 
the joy and gratitude of Pope Adrian I.—In the por¬ 
tico Adrian expected him at the head of his clergy ; 
they embraced as friends and equals: but, in their 
march to the altar, the king, or patrician assumed the 
ri gfet hand of the pope. Nor was the Frank content 
with these vain and empty demonstrations of respect. 
In the twenty-six yem*s that elapsed between the con¬ 
quest of Lombardy and his imperial coronation, Rome, 

I which had been delivered by the sword, was subjec¬ 
ted, as his own, to the sceptre of Charlemagne. The 
people swore allegiance to his person and family; in 
his name money w 7 as coined, and justice was adminis¬ 
tered ; and the election of the popes was examined and 
confirmed by his authority. Except an original and 
self-inherent claim of sovereignty, there was not any 
prerogative remaining which the title of emperor 
could add to the patrician of Rome” The seven 
iieads of the beast are, therefore, the following : The 
Regal power , The Dictatorship , The power of the 
Prcetors , The Consulate , The Triumvirate , The lm~ 
pcrial power, and The Patriciate . 

And when he cometh , he must continue a short space — 


142 'EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


The seventh form of government was only remain 
a short time, which was actually the case; for from its 
first rise to independent power to its utter extinction, 
there passed only about forty-five years, a short time 
in comparison to the duration of several of the prece¬ 
ding forms of government; for the primitive regal go¬ 
vernment continued at least four hundred and twenty- 
eight years ; the dictatorship was in power about eigh¬ 
ty-eight years; the power of the praetors was in being 
for upwards of three hundred years ; the consulate; 
lasted about two hundred and eighty years ; and the 
imperial power continued upwards of five hundred 
years. 

Verse 11. And the beast that was , and is not, even 
he is the eighth, and is of the seven , and goeth into 
perdition. —That is to say, the Latin kingdom that has 
already been, but is now no longer nominally in exis¬ 
tence, shall immediately follow the dissolution of the 
seventh form of Latin government; and this dominion 
is called an eighth , because it succeeds to the seventh. 
Yet it is not an eighth head of the beast, because the 
beast has only seven heeds; for, to constitute a new 
bead of the beast, the form of government must not 
only differ in nature , but also in name . This bead of 
the beast is, therefore, one of the seven . Consequent¬ 
ly, the form of government represented by this head is 
the restoration of one of the preceding seven. The 
restored head can be, therefore, no other than the regal 
state of the Latins, or, in other words, the Latin king¬ 
dom, which followed the patriciate, or seventh head of 
Latin government. But the beast, in his eighth state. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


143 


or under his first head restored, goeth into perdition. No 
other form of Latin government shall succeed ; but the 
beast, in his last or antichristian condition, shall be ta¬ 
ken, together with the false prophet that wrought mira¬ 
cles in his sight, “ and cast alive into a lake of fire 
burning with brimstone.” 

It is observable, that the eighth Latin power is call¬ 
ed by the angel the beast, and also one of his heads. 
This apparent discordance arises from the double sig¬ 
nification of the heads; for if we take the beast upon 
which the woman sits to be merely a representation of 
that secular power which supports the Latin church, 
then the seven heads will represent the seven electo¬ 
rates of the Germanic empire ; but if by the beast we 
understand the general Latin empire from first to last, 
then what is. according to the angel’s first interpreta¬ 
tion of the heads, called the beast, is, in this case, only 
one of his heads.—See on ver. 18. 

Verse 12. And the ten horns which thou sawest are 
ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but 
receive power as kings one hour with the beast .—\’he 
meaning of horns has already been defined when speak¬ 
ing of those of the dragon. The meaning is, there¬ 
fore, as follows: though the Latin empire be now in 
existence, the ten horns refer to ten Latin kingdoms 
yet in futurity, and consequently they have received no 
dominion as yet f for that part of the Latin domina¬ 
tion now in power is the sixth head, or imperial go>- 
vernment of the heathen Caesars. But the ten states 
of the Latins receive dominion as monarchies, at the 
game time, with the beast, or that which ascendeth ou< 


I 4 I EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

of die bottomless pit; consequently, the Latin empire 
here intended, is the one which was in futurity in the 
apostolic age. 

Verse 13. These have one mind, and shall give their 
'power and strength unto the beast. — Therefore the ten 
horns must constitute the principal strength of the Lat¬ 
in empire ; that is to say, (his empire is to be composed 
of the dominions of ten monarchs, independent of 
each other in every other sense, except in their implicit 
obedience to the Latin church. The beast , in this and 
the preceding verse, is distinguished from its horns , as 
the whole Latin empire is distinguished in history from 
its constituent powers.—See on ver. 16. 

Verse 14. These shall make war with the Lamb, and 
the Lamb shall overcome them : for he Is the Lord of 
lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him 
art called, and chosen, and faithful. —The ten powers 
of the beast must compose the secular kingdom of an¬ 
tichrist ; for they make war with the Lamb, who is 
Christ Jesus. This is perfectly true of all popish 
states; for they have constantly opposed as long as they 
have had any secular power, the progress of pure 
Christianity. They make war with the Lamb by per¬ 
secuting His followers ; but the Lamb shall overcome 
them, for he is the Lord of lords, and King of kings ; 
ail lords have their authority from Him and no king 
' can reign without Him ; therefore the ten Latin kings 
are God’s ministers, to execute His vengeance upon 
the idolatrous nations. But when these antichristian 
monarchies have executed the Divine purpose, those 
that art with the Lamb, the called, the choseu, and the 


TTXTECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM 


145 


faithful, those who have kept the truth in the love of it, 
shall prevail against ail their adversaries, because their 
battles are fought by the Lamb, who is their God and 
their Deliverer.—See chap. xix. 19, 20. 

Verse 15. And he smith unto me , The waters which 
thou sawtst , where the whore sitteth , are 'peoples, and 
multitudes , and nations , and tongues ..—“ So many 
words,” Bishop Newton observes, “ in the plural num¬ 
ber, fitly denote the great extensiveness of her power 
and jurisdiction :—She herself glories in the title of the 
Catholic church, and exults in the number of her vo¬ 
taries as a certain proof of the true religion. Cardi¬ 
nal Bellarmin’s first note of the true church is, the very 
name of the Catholic church : and his fourth note is, 
amplitude , or multitude , and variety of believers , for 
the truly Catholic church, says he, ought not only to 
comprehend all ages, but likewise all places, all nations , 
all kinds of men. 

Verse 1G. And the ten horns which thou, sawtst upon 
the beast , these shall hate the whore , and shall make 
her desolate and naked , and shall eat her flesh, and 
Inirn her with fire. —Here is a clue to lead us to 
the right interpretation of the horns of the beast. It 
is said the ten horns shall hate the whore ; by which is 
evidently meant, when connected with what follows, 
that the ivhole of the ten kingdoms in the interest of 
the Latin church, shall finally despise her doctrines, be 
reformed from popery, assist in depriving her of all in¬ 
fluence, and in exposing her follies; and in the cud 
consign her to utter destruction. -From this it follows, 
*bat no Roman Catholic power which did not exist so 

N 


14G 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM, 


late as the Reformation, can be numbered among the 
horns of the beast; the horns must, therefore, be found 
among the great states of Europe at the commence¬ 
ment of the Reformation. These were exactly ten, 
viz. France , Spain, England, Scotland , The Empire T 
Sweden , Denmark , Poland , Hungary, and Portugal. 
In these were comprehended most of the minor states, 
not styled monarchies; and which, from their first rise 
to the period of the Reformation, had been subdued by 
one or more of the ten grand Roman Catholic powers 
already named. Consequently, these ten constituted 
the power and strength of the beast; and each minor 
state is considered a part of that monarchy under the 
authority of which it was finally reduced, previously to 
the Reformation. 

But, it may he asked, how could the empire, which 
w’as the revived head of the beast, have been at the 
same time one of its horns? The answer is as fol¬ 
lows : horns of an animal, in the language of prophe¬ 
cy, represent the powers of which that empire or king¬ 
dom symbolized by the animal is composed. Thus 
the angel, in his interpretation of Daniel’s vision of the 
ram and he-goat, expressly informs us, that “ the ram 
with two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.’* 
One of the horns of the ram, therefore, represented 
the kingdom of Media, and the other the kingdom of 
Persia; and their union iu one animal denoted the 
united kingdom of Media and Persia, viz the Medo- 
Persian empire. In like manner the beast with ten 
horns denotes that the empire represented by the beast 
is composed of ten distinct powers ; and the ten horns 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 147 

being - united in one beast, very appropriately show that 
the monarchies symbolized by these horns are united 
together to form one empire ; for we have already 
shown, in the notes on chap. xiii. ver. 1. that a beast is 
the symbol of an empire. Therefore, as the horns ol 
an animal, agreeably to the angel’s explanation, (and 
we can give no higher authority) represent all the pow¬ 
ers of which that domination symbolized by the ani¬ 
mal is composed, the Roman empire of Germany, as 
-one of those monarchies which gave their power and 
strength to the Latin empire, must, consequently, have 
been A horn of the beast. But the Germanic empire 
was not only a Latin power, but at the same time was 
acknowledged by all Europe to have precedency of all 
the others. Therefore, as it is not possible to express 
these two circumstances by one symbol, it necessarily 
follows, from the nature of symbolical language, that 
what has been named the Holy Roman empire must 
have a double representation. Hence the empire, as 
-one of the powers of the Latin monarchy, was a horn 
of the beast, and, in having precedency of all the oth¬ 
ers, was its revived head. 

Verse 17. For God hath put in their hearts to ful¬ 
fil his will , and to agree , and give their kingdom unto 
the beast , until the words of God shall be fulfilled .— 
Let no one imagine that these ten Latin kingdoms, be¬ 
cause they support an idolatrous worship, have been 
raised up merely by the power of man, or the chances 
of war. No kingdom or state can exist without the 
will of God ; therefore let the inhabitants of the world 
tremble, when they see a wicked monarchy rise to pow- 




148 Expected Christian millennium. 

cr; and let them consider that it is raised up by the 
Lord to execute His vengeance upon the idola¬ 
tries and profligacies of the times. It is said of* the 
kings in communion with the church of Rome, that 
God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will. How is 
this divine will accomplished ? In the most awful and 
allictive manner ! In causing ten Latin kings to unite 
their dominions into one mighty empire for the defence 
of the Latin church. Here is a dreadful dispensation 
of Jehovah; but it is such as the nations have most 
righteously deserved, because when they had the truth* 
they lived not according to its most holy requisitions* 
but loved darkness rather than light, because their 
deeds were evil. Therefore hath “ the Lord sent them 

V. 

strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they 
might all be damned who believe not the truth, but 
have pleasure in unrighteousness. 1 ’ But this deplora¬ 
ble state of the world is not perpetual; it can only 
continue till every word of God is fulfilled upon his 
enemies; and when this time arrives, {which will be 
that of Christ’s second advent,) then shall the son of 
God slay that wicked “ with the spirit of His mouth, 
and shall consume him with the brightness of His 
COMING.” 

Verse 18 . And the ivoman which thou sawest is that 
great city , which reigneth over the Icings of the earth .— 
It has already been shown that the woman sitting upon 
the seven-headed beast is a representation of the Latin 
church ; here we have the greatest assurance that it is 
so, because the woman is called a city, which is a much 
plainer emblem of a church, as the word is used tm- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


149 


equivocally in this sense in so many parts of Scripture 
that we cannot well mistake its meaning.—See chap, 
iii. 12. xi. 2. xxi. 10. xxii. 19. and also Psa. xlvi. 4. 
Ixxxvii. 3. Heb. xii. 22, &c. The woman therefore, 
must be the Latin church; and as the apostle saw her 
sitting upon the beast, this must signify that she hath A 
KINGDOM over the kings of the earth, i. e. over the 
kings of the Latin world, for that this is the meaning 
of earth, has been shown before in numerous instan¬ 
ces. That KINGDOM which the woman has over the 
kings of the Latin world, or secular Latin empire, or 
in other words, the kingdom of the Latin church, is 
the numbered Latin kingdom, or, Romish hierarch}'.— 
See on chap. xiii. 18. The woman is called a great 
city, to denote the very great extent of her jurisdiction; 
for she has comprehended within her walls the subjects 
of the mighty dominations of France, Spain, England, 
Scotland, The Empire, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, 
Hungary, and Portugal. What an extensive city was 
this! Surely such as to justify the prophetic denomi¬ 
nation that great city. 

Having now gone through the whole of the angel’s 
interpretation of St. John’s vision of a whore sitting 
upon the seven-headed and ten-horned beast, it will be 
essentially necessary to examine a little more attentive¬ 
ly the eighth verse of this chapter, it has already been 
shown that the phrases was, is not, shall ascend out of 
the bottomless pit, and yet is, refer to the Latin king¬ 
dom which existed before the building of Rome; to 
the Roman empire in the time of St. John ; and to the 

Latin empire which was in futurity in the apostolic age 

N* 

Jf 'hv! Hu'. ■ 


15 0 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


But as the words Was, is not, &c. are spoken of the 
4 beast upon which the apostle saw the woman, or Latin 
church, sit; how can it be said of this beast that it had 
an existence before the date of the Apocalypse, when 
the woman, whom it carried, was not in being till long 
after this period? And what connexion has the Latin 
empire of the middle ages with that which derived its 
name from Latinus, king of the Aborigines, and was 
subjugated by the ancient Romans ; or even with that 
which existed in the time of the apostle ? The answer 
is as follows r—St John saw the beast upon which the 
woman sat, with all his seven heads and ten horns* 
Consequently, as the angel expressly says, that five of 
these seven heads had already fallen in the time of the 
vision, it therefore necessarily follows, that the apostle 
must have seen that part of the Latin empire represen¬ 
ted by the seven headed beast, which bad already been 
under the emblem of five heads. Therefore, the wo¬ 
man sat upon the beast that WAS. But it is plain, 
from the angel’s interpretation, that the whole of the 
seven heads fell, before the beast upon which the wo¬ 
man sat. arose ; and yet, the woman is represented as 
sitting upon the seven-headed beast, to denote, as we 
have before observed, that it is the Latin kingdom in 
its last estate, or under one of its heads restored, which 
is the secular kingdom of antichrist. The beast is al¬ 
so said not to have any existence in the time of the vis¬ 
ion ; from which it is evident that the monarchy of the 
Latins , and not that of the Romans is here intended : 
because the latter was in the time of the vision. Again, 
the beast which St. John saw had not ascended out of 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 151 

the bottomless pit in his time ; consequently, tbe whole 
.seven heads and ten horns were in futurity ; for all these 
heads and horns rose up Out of the abyss at the same 
time with the beast. How is this apparent contradic¬ 
tion reconciled ? In the most plain and satisfactory 
manner, by means of the angel’s double interpretation 
of the heads. For if the seven heads be taken in the 
sense of seven mountains, (head., ki the Scripture style, 
being a symbol of precedency as well as supremacy,) 
then the beast with all his heads and horns was alto¬ 
gether in futurity in the apostle’s time, for the seven 
heads are the seven electorates of the German empire, 
and the ten horns the ten monarchies in the interest of the 
Latin church. Finally, the beast is said to exist in the 
time of the vision; therefore, the Roman empire, which 
governed the world, must be here alluded to ; and, 
consequently, the phrase and yet is, is a proof that as 
the beast is the Latin kingdom, and this beast is said to 
have an existence in the time of the apostle, that the 
empire of the Caesars, though generally known by 
the name of the Roman, is in a very proper sense the 
Latin kingdom, as the Latin was the language which 
prevailed in it. Hence the seven-headed and ten- 
horned-beast is at once the representation of the an¬ 
cient Latin power, of the Roman empire which suc¬ 
ceeded it; and of the Latin empire which supports the 
Latin church. 'Here is then the connexion of the an¬ 
cient Latin and Roman powers with that upon which 
the woman sits. She sits upon the beast that ivas and, 
is not, because three of his heads represent the three 
forms of government which the ancient Latins had be- 


152 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

fore they were subjugated by the Romans, viz. The Re¬ 
gal Power, The Dictatorship, and the Power of the 
Praetors. She sits upon the beast which shall ascend 
out of the bottomless pit, because all his seven heads, 
taken in the sense of mountains, were in futurity in the 
apostolic age. She sits upon the beast that yet is , be¬ 
cause four of his heads (represent four forms of go- > 
vernment of the Roman or Latin empire now in exis¬ 
tence, viz. The Consulate, The Triumvirate, The Im¬ 
perial power, and the Patriciate. It is hence evident 
that the beast , in the largest acceptation of this term, is 
a symbol of the Latin power in general from its com¬ 
mencement in Latinus, to the end of time ; its seven 
heads denoting seven kings, or supreme forms of Latin 
government, during this period, king or kingdom , as 
we have already observed, being a general term in the 
prophetical writings for any kind of supreme governor 
or government, no matter by what particular name such 
may have been designated among men. Thus the 
Latin power, from the time of Latinus to the death of 
Numitor, was the beast under the dominion of his first 
head ; from the death of Numitor to the destruction of 
Alba, it was the beast uuder the dominion of his sec-' 
ond head ; from the destruction of Alba to the final 
subjugation of the Latins by the Romans, it was the 
beast under the dominion of his third head. And as 
the four Roman forms of government which were sub¬ 
sequent to the final conquests of the Latins, were also 
Latin dominations, die Latin power under these forms 
of government was the beast under the dominion of his 
fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh heads. The beast of 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


153 


the bottomless pit which followed the fall of all the 
beads of the sea-beast, or general Latin empire, is, ac¬ 
cording to the angel’s interpretation, an eighth king , 
t. e. an eighth species of Latin power, or, in other 
words, a supreme form of Latin government essentially 
differing from all the foregoing: yet as it is nominally 
the same with one of the preceding seven, it is not ac¬ 
counted an eigftth head of the beast. The first beast of 
chap. xiii. is a description of the eighth or last condi¬ 
tion of the general Latin empire^ and is said to arise 
out of the sea , because the heads are there taken in a 
double sense, sea being a general term to express the 
origin of every great empire which is raised up by the 
sword; but when (as in verse 11.) one of the heads of 
the sea-beast (viz. that secular power which is still in 
being, and has supported the Latin church for more 
than a thousand years) is peculiarly styled the beast? 
the Holy Ghost, speaking of this secular Latin empire, 
exclusively declares it to be from the bottomless pit. 

But when the light of the great Reformation had 
began to shine, and, in the progress of ages, to detect 
the errors and expose the labarynths and ramifications 
of the above described Pagan and Papal powers, it 
would seem the arch seducer had in reserve another ex¬ 
pedient of opposition to the Gospel. For when, in 
the process of a few centuries after the aggrandizement 
of the Roman Church, after it had thrown its spells of 
darkness and clouds of superstition over many coun¬ 
tries, their arose from their midst and out of their 
own filth, a monster, the direct effect of their own 
errors, and which fell upon their own mother like 


154 


EXPECTED CIIPIST1AN MILLENNIUM. 


Milton’s hell-hounds, and destroyed her for the time 
being in that place. This was done when the Atheists 
destroyed all the clergy of France in the time of their 
revolution. Here again is evident the depths of satan, 
in the upraising of this infidel beast, who, notwith¬ 
standing it hated the whore the Roman church; it laid 
a foundation for heresy, which may exist when its 
own parent has lost her power among the nations ; 
which probably will not be till after Italy is destroyed 
by fire. This heresy is atheism, and lias been, and 
will he propagated in four different ways, or rather by 
the means of four certain sects, which I forbear to name. 
These sentiments in their effects respecting the true 
character of Christ, have been, and will continue to 
he, in their teachings, the same that Mahomet taught 
of Him, namely, that he was only a finite being. But 
undoubtedly it is all one with satan whether the great 
red dragon , the ancient heathen Roman power, or the 
scarlet coloured beast of Papal Rome, or the atheisti¬ 
cal beast of France, or the scintillations of that last 
meteor of hell rule among the nations; any thing with 
satan is equal; if the direct effect of the true faith be 
prevented. These errors which I call the scintillations 
of that last meteor of hell, are they which are now 7 
spreading to an alarming extent, in a very secret way, 
and will probably be the last distinguishing marks of 
.the wicked before the second Advent of Christ. 

Atheists deny the being of a God, Deists deny the 
Son of God, and some there are who deny the l)ivin~ 

V 

it\j of the Son of God ; and others, who, while they al¬ 
low Him to be Divine, deny his equality with the God« 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


155 


Head ; others again lower the standard of penal law 
against sin, and say, the good and the bad shall all, 
finally be happy in heaven together. Atheists have a 
thought very similar to this; they say there is no real 
difference between good and bad actions, but are only 
relatively so. From which it appears to me that there 
is but little difference, whether a man denies the being 
of God, or denies the Son of God, or denies the true 
character of the Son of God, or denies the penal laws 
of God, or denies their being any real difference be¬ 
tween what is called good or bed actions; for all 
these streams flow finally into that dead sea of error, 
some bow or at some period (so portended) get rid 
of the eternal punishment threatened against finally im¬ 
penitent sinners, in the Scriptures. 

At the head of all infidelity stands the horrible Vol¬ 
taire, who is justly considered the great chief of all 
false theology; and on the account of his unparallel¬ 
led industry and struggles to destroy Christianity, 
should be considered as the hear!, under satan, of all 
infidels, of every shade whether before Ins time or 
since ; and till time shall end. He was always urging 
his adherents to strike , and to strike deep, blit conceal 
the hand ; i. e. in their writings and labours to stab 
the cause of the Son of God; hut keep themselves hid 
from the public, lest their books should be undervalued, 
and their invectives lose their force. 

. In the time of the French revolution in 1790, it is 
probable that this sect of infidels arrived to their ze¬ 
nith, at which time they usurped the reins of govern¬ 
ment, and abolished all religion that had any relation 


15G EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

to a Supreme Being;, and murdered by tens of thou¬ 
sands its adherents, and abolished the Sabbath, created 
a new week consisting of ten days* and thus endea¬ 
voured to change the times which was established from 
the beginning. 

This body of self-styled philosophers, in common 
council decreed that there is no God, and that death is 
an eternal sleep, and endeavoured to revive the Pagan 
worship, by actually dressing in a fantastical manner,, 
an infamous woman kept by Herbert the Atheist, by 
the name of Mormoro , whom they inaugurated the 
Goddess of Reason, and was led at the head of a grand 
procession to the church of Notredame, the Cathedral 
of Paris, where she was solemnly placed on a throne of 
turf and flowers, to whom the atheist multitude burnt 
incense on an altar before her. 

Voltaire, towards the end of his time, made in w ri¬ 
ting to a friend of his the following remark : “ You 
bury your talents ; you only contemn whilst you should 
abhor and destroy the monster meaning Christ, 
and then calls upon him to comfort him in his old age 
by so doing. 

Notwithstanding Voltaire so violently opposed the 
Christian religion, he was a great friend to the Socin- 
San church, and probably belonged to that commun¬ 
ion ; for, in writing to a friend he said, that on Easter 
he should receive the sacrament, and they might call 
him hypocrite as much as they pleased, under this 
cloak, as being most congenial to his own Atheism, lie 
hid himself, from whence he shot out his arrows of poi- 
9on and corrupted many people, and continues to cor- 


I 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 15? 

0 

■*' » 

nipt to the present day; for it is a fact, however in¬ 
credible it may appear, that now there are many Athe¬ 
ists who are as sanguine as any other grade of infidels 
are of their opinions. 

This same spirit of infidelity, such as was propaga¬ 
ted by Voltaire anti his coadjutors before that tremen¬ 
dous explosion, the French revolution, from bad to 
worse, has continued to foment and insinuate itself into 
the hearts of many countries; and will finally, some 
time in the next centm-v, become the direct cause of 
wars and persecutions the most horrible against Chris¬ 
tianity. , This power will probably act in unison with 
the great Roman monster, (as once Pilate and Herod 
became friends to kill Christ) who about that time will 
be occupied in its last struggle for power, when Italy 
shall he sunk into the depths beneath and “ utterly 
burned with fire .” 

If in the times of Voltaire, Atheism taught that there 
is no moral difference between the actions of men, it 
teaches the same now: this I have learned from per¬ 
sonal debates with Atheists to be the fact. As they 
taught then , that God is nothing, that government is a 
curse , and authority is a usurpation, that civil society 
the only apostacy of man, that the possession of prop¬ 
erty is robbery, that chastity and natural affection are 
mere prejudices; and that adultery, assassination, pei- 
soning, and other crimes of a similar nature, are law¬ 
ful, and even virtuous: abstractly considered from all re¬ 
lation to political society; so they teach now. This doc¬ 
trine has been propagated under the auspices of a cer 
tain society, styled the lllumiati , which originated hp 

Q 


\ 


log 


rxrEcTKi) 


CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


France in the days of Jacobinism, and lias, in the 
most secret and subtle manner, accomplished the crea¬ 
tion of many societies of the same kind in several 
countries, and even in America, covering themselves 
with' the sacked cloak of Free-Mnsonry. See Smith 
on the prophecies, page 174. And it is greatly to be 
(eared, that even now, Atheism, with its accompanying 
satellites , is rapidly increasing, especially in Christen- 
dom, under the specious titles chosen by certain sects, 
who ascribe to the Son of God all honor, except that 

which is wholly his due, which is, that men should honour 
the Son even as the Father ; but by not so doing, they 
bring Him down as equal only with the finite which he 
created. This is unquestionably a continuation and 
kindred of that mystery of iniquity, which was foretold . 
*by St. Paul should arise; and, as I have before obser¬ 
ved, it ir. quite equal, with Satan, what errors men em¬ 
brace, so that Christ is not so believed on, as to save 
the soul by faith. So I say again : it is equal with Sa¬ 
tan, whether, in Pagan countries, idolatry prevails, or 
in other countries, if the woman, sitting on tiie scarlet 
coloured beast, prevails ; or in others, if barefaced 
atheism prevails, as once in France ; or if any other 
doctrine prevails, which does not exalt Jesus Christ to 
the throne of Omnipotence, and equality with the Fa¬ 
ther, with whom he existed from everlasting, but be¬ 
came incarnate, and shall exist to everlasting, one indi¬ 
visible God, Father, Word, and Holy Ghost. 


Arinnism, which is justly considered a heresy, had 
an early commencement, and came to its greatest 
strength and popularity about the year, A. I>. GOO. It 



159 


ENACTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

had spread into many countries. Emperors and kings 
embraced the scheme, and became its furious advo¬ 
cates, and enforced their doctrine by the arms of Goths 
and Vandals, and persecuted the church in opposition 
to them with great severity. Smith on the Prophecies, 
page 449. This monster has, from time to time, lifted 
its gorgon head since the days of Arius, for acceptance 
among men ; and it is a fearful fact, that even now that 
sentiment poisons all ranks of irreligious men to an 
alarming degree. Notwithstanding it has been from 
age to age refuted as unsound, yet it lives, and will 
live, deceiving and being deceived, till the time arrives 
when God shall arise in his might, and destroy infidelity 
in all its ramifications, by a destruction of its adherents 
before the time of the Millennium. But in the midst of 
all this increase of wickedness, the gospel will also 
prevail, and he carried into all heathen nations of the 
earth ; but the numbers who shall be saved thereby, it 
is feared, will be small in comparison of the immense 
numbers of sinners, who will reject it or neglect it; for 
while thousands, tens of thousands, and hundreds oi 
thousands, will be converted by the gospel all along 
till the Millennium, there will be found millions who 
will despise it. 

But a small minority of mankind, since the first pro¬ 
mise of a Saviour, has accepted of him, there were but 
few who were ready to enter into the ark when the 
flood came, and but few received and believed in the 
Messiah when he appeared at Jerusalem ; and but few, 
in comparison of the great mass of men who will be on 
jbe eartii when the Millennium shall have nearly arrived. 


160 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


will be ready toenterinto its joys and immunities when 
the trumpet shall sound. The days of the trial of the 
inhabitants of earth is now drawing- to a close, for God 
has said that his spirit shall not always strive with man. 
The time will soon come, when God will say, All the 
the day Jong 1 have stretched out my arm , but no man 
regardeth it. Ye have set at nought all my counsels, 
and would none of my reproofs. ] also will laugh at 
your calamity , and mock when your fear cometh. When 
your fear cometh as a desolation , and your destruction 
as a whirlwind, then shall they call upon me, but I will 
not answer. 

In the beginning, God was six days in making the 
solar system, but he rested on the seventh: wherefore 
it is said, six days shalt thou labour, but the seventh is 
the Sabbath. Now God has labored, when the Millen¬ 
nium shall have come, six thousand years with the great 
family of man, rising up early, and crying, O, do not 
this abominable thing that I hate —offering to all the 
race of man grace and mercy, in the dispensation of 
his wisdom and providence. 

From the view I have given of my fellow man, I 
am led to believe that they will increase in wickedness, 
as the years draw nigh to the close of the great week. 
It is probable that before that time arrives, there will 
be a tremenduous and dreadful persecution, which will 
arise in every part of the world nearly at the same 
time, as the allied pow ers of Satan have once before 
arose, for the Mahomedans, Arians and Roman Cath¬ 
olics came into being about the same period of time. 

It will be needful, therefore, in order that the Mil- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


161 


ienuium may sustain tne character of rest,peace and ho¬ 
liness, for God to remove all the wicked from the face 
of the earth, at the same time whcti Satan shall be 
bound and shut up. For if the father of sinners is 
taken away, why shall not his children share a similar 
fate ? And that this shall be the doom of Satan is cer¬ 
tain, because the evangelist John has said, And 1 saw 
an angel come down from heaven, having the Ivey of the 
bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. This 
chain should be considered only as descriptive ol the 
power of God to bind or curtail, effectually and totally, 
the evil influence and power of Satan, who will be un¬ 
doubtedly confined and located to the place which was 
prepared, (and therefore created) for the devil and his 
angels, when first they fell from heaven, or from their 
first estate, and is situate somewhere in the great field 
of space, where he, with all his demoniac companions, 
who fell from heaven with him, shall be confined. See 
Rev. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old ser¬ 
pent, ivhich is the devil and satan, and bound him a 

thousand years \ 

O* 


SIXTH DIVISION. 


Considers the way and manner in which it is probable God wilt 
remove the wicked from among the living, for they shall not en¬ 
ter into that land of promise. 


-r)0t — 

Twelve million men, or more, in the deep flood 
Were drown’d, because they sinn’d against their God ; 
And when the Egyptian king, and tawny host, 

The Jews pursu’d, were in the Red Sea lost: 

So in the last great w ar, through all the w r orld f 
From life to death the w icked shall be hurl’d. 


The dealings of God with notorious sinners in for¬ 
mer ages, is a criterion by which we can be guided to a 
tolerable degree of certainty, relating to the above sup¬ 
posed total destruction of all the wicked just previous 
to the Millennium. 

Our first instance shall be the case of the an tedel Li¬ 
lians, of whom it is stated in the Scriptures, that they 
•had wholly corrupted their way before God—their 
crimes and abominations cried to the very heavens, and 
•howled through all the habitations of men. Violence, 
bloodshed, rapine and plunder, was doubtless their uni¬ 
versal character: Therefore, God said concerning 
them, The end of all flesh is come before me. Conse¬ 
quently, he brought the flood upon the whole earth, in 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 163 

the year of the world 1656, in which perished all the 
race of men, Noah excepted, and his family. 

A second public testimony, which God has exhibited 
against sinners, though not so fatally accompanied as 
to produce death among the offenders, was the case of 
the builders of the tower and city of Babel. 

The particular sin of which this great compact were 
guilty, was, their intention of placing, at the very'pin¬ 
nacle of their tower when finished, an idol, with a 
sword, which idol was to be to them a talisman, to 
whom they intended to look for protection and success 
in war. See Clarlc on Generis. 

This great tower stood on the river Euphrates, in 
the country w here was built the city of Babylon in af¬ 
ter times on the plains of Shinar, and is spoken of by 
several historians. It is stated that Nebuchadnezzar 
beautified and adorned it for idolatrous purposes, an 
account of which, and of the confusion of tongues, is 
given by several ancient authors. Herodotus saw and 
described it. A Sybil , whose oracle is yet extant, 
spoke both of it and the confusion of tongues. A his¬ 
tory of this tower, and of many remains of ancient 
facts respecting it, is found in the Chaldean writings 
and records. 

But for building this tower God was displeased, and 
manifested his displeasure by confounding their lan¬ 
guage, and scattering them abroad in the earth. I 
shall here insert an extract from the Chaldean history, 
(copied from Clark) concerning this tower, by Bo- 
CHART, who observes, that these things are taken from 
the Chaldeans, who preserved many remains of ancient 


104 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

facts, and though they often add circumstances, yet 
they are, in general* in some sort dependent on the 
text. 1. They say, Babel was builded by the giants , 
because Nimrod, one of the builders, is called in the 
Hebrew text gibbor , a mighty man , or, as the Septua- 
gint has it, a giant. 2. These giants, they say, sprang 
from the earth, because in Genesis 10, 11, it is said, he 
went minhaarets hahie , i. e. out of that earth ; but in 
the English translation it is, Out of that land went 
forth Ashur ; but this is rather spoken of Ashur , who 
was another of the Babel builders. 3. These giants 
are said to have waged war with the Gods, because it 
$ said of Nimrod, Genesis 10, 9, he was a mighty hun¬ 
ter before the Lord; or, as others have rendered it, a 
warrior and a rebel against the Lord. These giants 
are said to have raised a tower up to heaven, as if they 
had intended to have ascended thither. This appears 
to have been founded on, and its top shall reach to hea- 
jen. 4. It is said that the Gods sent strong winds 
against them, which dispersed both them and their work. 
This appears to have been taken from the Chaldean ’ 
history, in which it is said their dispersion was made to 
'he four winds of heaven , be arba ruchey schemyia, i. 
e. to the four winds of the world. 5. And because 
the verb phuts or naphats , used by Moses in the origi¬ 
nal, signifies not only to scatter , but also to break to 
pieces , whence thunder . Isa. 30, 30, is called nephets 
in the original, a breaking to pieces ; hence, they sup¬ 
posed the whole work was broken to pieces , and over¬ 
turned. It is probable, from this disguised representa¬ 
tion of the Hebrew text, that the Greek and Roman 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 165 

poets took their fable of the giants waging war with 
tfoe Gods, and piling mountain upon mountain in order 
to scale heaven. i 

Concerning their language, which was spoken at the 
building of Babel, it is likely it was one, and was com¬ 
posed of monosyllables—that each had a distinct ideal 
meaning, and only one meaning; as different accepta¬ 
tions of the same word would undoubtedly arise, either 
from compounding terms, or when there were but few 
words in a language, using them by a different mode of 
pronunciation to express a variety of tilings. Where 
this simple monosyllabic language prevailed, and it 
must have prevailed in the first ages of the world, men 
would necessarily have simple ideas , and a correspon¬ 
ding simplicity of manners. The Chinese language is 
exactly such as this; and the Hebrew, if stripped of its 
vowel points, and its prefixes, suffixes, and postfixes, 
separated from their -combinations so that they might 
standby themselves, it would answer nearly to this cha¬ 
racter, even in its present state, in order, therefore, 
to remove this unity of sentiment and design, which 1 
suppose to be the necessary consequence of such a lan¬ 
guage, caused them to articulate the same word diffe¬ 
rently, to affix different ideas to the same term, and, 
perhaps, by transposing of syllables and interchanging 
of letters from new terms and compounds, so that the 
mind of the speaker was apprehended by the hearer in 
a contrary sense to vvliat was intended. 

A third and more terrible overthrow of sinners is 
demonstrated by the destruction of the four cities, 
which were in the vale of Sodom and Gomorrah. The 


166 EXPECTED CIIIUSTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

tract of country called Sodom and Gomorrah, was 
eighteen miles wide by seventy long, but is now filled 
with water, and is called the Dead Sea. 

From the bottom, it is said by Dr. Clark, arises fre¬ 
quently large lumps of a bitumenous matter, from 
which a foetid odour escapes. A phenomenon also of 
the same nature, though more surprising, is frequently 
seen in these dreary wastes, which is, the rising up of 
large hemispheres of this bitumen, which, as soon as 
they touch the surface, and are acted on by the exter¬ 
nal air, burst at once with a great smoke and noise. 
This happens generally near the shore; but farther 
out in the deep is as frequently seen large columns of 
smoke to suddenly shoot up from the bottom. From 
this phenomena, it is supposed that beneath this sea is 
still a subterranean fire ; hence, some authors have as¬ 
serted, that Sodom still continues to burn, and has 
burnt from the day of its ruin till now' : From which 
circumstance, I should certainly suppose that those ci¬ 
ties, and the territory on which they stood, w r as de¬ 
stroyed by the eruption of subterranean fire, rather 
than by lightning, which some have thought, in glan¬ 
cing along on the surface of the earth, might have 
caught accidentally, and fired the bitumenous substance 
of this plain, of which it was chiefly composed. But un¬ 
doubtedly it was a storm of fire just then created for that 
express purpose; for in that case, it was as easy for 
God to pour down from the atmosphere, a shower of fire 
and brimstone, as it was for him, at the request of Eli¬ 
jah the prophet, to send a flash or great flame of fire 
from heaven , twice in succession, and destroyed at each 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


IG7 


time a captain and his men. And if we may rely upon 
the sacred word, those cities were destroyed in a super¬ 
natural way, for their sins of their inhabitants, who were 
equally involved in the tremendous overthrow. Their 
numbers were unquestionably very great, for they in¬ 
habited four cities in the vale of Sodom, besides those 
who dwelt in villages and country seats. One hundred 
thousand persons would be quite as small a number, 
as is reasonable to suppose. 

A fourth instance of God’s severity against flagitious 
sinners, was the universal death which was effected at 
midnight by the destroying angel in all the families of 
the Egyptians—the number of whom, though not spoken 
of in the Scriptures, must have been very great, for at 
that time the Egyptians were a strong and numerous 
people. Also the destruction of Pharaoh’s great army 
in the Red Sea immediately after. 

A fifth, is the case of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, 
who conspired against Moses and Aaron about the 
priesthood ; but God ended the contest by causing the 
earth to open and swallow up all that appertained to 
them in a moment; and with them there was two hun¬ 
dred and fifty men w ho had favoured this project, and 
had, according to the desire of Moses, appeared be¬ 
fore the Lord, with censers in their hands, in order that 
• • • 

God should decide whether the priesthood should be¬ 
long to the Levites, or should belong to any of the peo¬ 
ple who were capable, which was the thing Korah and 
his company had contended for. Rut against these 
there came out a great flame of fire from the Lord, and 
destroyed the tw o hundred and fifty pretenders to the 


168 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 

sacred office. But before this thing could terminate*, 
and the subject be at rest, and the people satisfied that 
the priesthood was given to Moses and to Aaron, and 
to the seed of Aaron forever, it was neeessary that God 
should vindicate the fact by further severity, because 
on the morrow there arose a great murmuring against 
Moses and his brother Aaron, in which they alleged 
that they had killed the Lord’s people, insinuating that 
they had done it of themselves by some art or device of 
which they were possessed, more than the people knew 
of, thinking probably it was a necromantic power by 
which they had effected it. But while this vile slander 
and mockery of God’s power was fermenting among 
them, for they were rising cn masse against Moses and 
Aaron, there went out from the Lord suddenly a great 
plague, for Moses saw that the people at a distance were 
melting away, and he hastened Aaron with a censer 
and fire in it, to the place where they were dying; and 
lie stood between the living and the dead, and made 
atonement. But before this was accomplished, there 
was slain fourteen thousand seven hundred of the peo¬ 
ple who had thus sinned against God in this matter. 
Numbers, 16, 14. 

We observe, as the sixth instance, that of the Israel¬ 
ites there fell twenty-three thousand in the wilderness 
at once, by the bite of fiery serpents, because they sin¬ 
ned by murmuring against God and against Moses, his 
servant. 

Our seventh instance of God’s severity against enor¬ 
mous sinners, is demonstrated in the discomfiture of the 
Assyrian host, who came against the Jews in the reign 











Expected Christian millennium. 169 


of Hezekiah. The Assyrians had for their king Sen* 
nacherib, whose palace and city royal was the great 
Nineveh of antiquity, to whose inhabitants the pro* 
phet Jonah once preached repentance. But this Assy* 
rian king, while he, with his immense army, was etv 
camped against the city of Jerusalem, boasted that h$ 
and his predecessors, kings of the Assyrians, had de¬ 
stroyed the Gods of all the earth ; he, therefore, defied 
and reproached the God of the Jews, who is the true 
and only wise God. But God, in order to vindicate 
his name, and to impress his fear upon those heathen 
nations, and likewise to save Jerusalem, wherein 1 $ 
Mount Zion, the city of the great king, which is beau* 
tiful for situation, the joy of the w hole earth, sent oui 
an angel in the night, and slew of the Assyrians, whc 
had blasphemed his great name, one hundred and eigb 
ty-five thousand men. 2 Kings, 19, 35. 

Many more instances might be noted, wherein Go^ 
has shown, that if the inhabitants of the earth become 
altogether incorrigible, or a portion of them, that they 
stand in imminent danger of being destroyed by the 
angel of his power, after the same example. 

The character of the era which will be ushered in at 
the close of the next century, demand the universal ab¬ 
sence of all sinful persons, because it is to be a holy 
Sabbath to the Lord, a rest from the toils and woes oc* 
casioned by the introduction of sin—a time when tlje 
unutterable joys of a close fellowship with the Father 
of Spirits is to take place. Therefore, the wicked at 
that moment must be removed by power divine, after 
the same supernatural manner as above recited. “ For 


170 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM’. 


what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteous¬ 
ness, and what communion hath light with darkness ? 
And what concord hath Christ with Belial, or what 
part hath he that helieveth with an infidel? And what 
agreement hath the temple of God with idols ? for ye 
are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I 
will dwell with them and walk in them, and l will be 
their God, and they shall be my people.” 2d Corin. 
6, 14, 15,16. Wherefore it is evident a separation 
must then take place, of a more decisive character than 
could well be accomplished at the time when Paul wrote 
to the Corinthians; but, as it is written, the tares must 
grow r with the wheat till the time of the harvest—which 
harvest will then have arrived in the most sublime and 

t 

essential manner, for then will be fulfilled these words 
of Christ, And then shall appear the sign of the Son 
of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the 
earth mourn , and they shall see the Son uf Man coming 
in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 
These are the wicked who then shall mourn, not with 
a godly sorrow for their sins, but with horror and de¬ 
spair at the approach of their Judge, though at that 
time, when He shall thus come, we may not look for 
the general judgment, that cannot arrive till after the 
Millennium ; but at that time also shall be fulfilled 
another communication the Saviour made to his disci¬ 
ples, which was, that at that time, when all the wicked 
tribes of men shall mourn, when they see the Son of 
Man coming, &ic. that He will send his angels with a 
great sound of a trumpet , and they shall gather toge¬ 
ther his elect from the four winds, from one end of hta- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 17i 

t rcn to the other, Matth. 24, 31. Tins then is the first 
resurrection. 

The prophet Isaiah lias spoken very similar to the 
view given by St. Matthew. Hear the word of the 
Lord, ve that tremble at his word. Your brethren that 
hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, 
Let the Lord be glorified ; but he shall appear to your 
joy, and they shall be ashamed. Isaiah 66, 5. But 
the momentous period is rapidly hastening, it is even at 
the door, when God will arise to shake terribly the 
earth ; and after the former examples of severity 
against incorrigible sinners, he will begin to do, but 
immensely more terrible and general, for now the glit¬ 
tering sword of his wrathful power shall be unsheathed, 
and the adversaries cut asunder. For the Lord shall 
go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy 
like a man of war, he shall cry, yea roar, he shall pre¬ 
vail against his enemies. Isaiah 42,13. And it shall 
come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two 
parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third shall 
be left therein. Zech. 13, 8 “A whirlwind shall be 
raised up from the ends of the earth. The evil shall 
run from nation to nation. The whole earth shall be 
devoured by the fire of my jealousy. He shall de¬ 
stroy the sinners thereof out of it. And the slain of 
the Lord shall be many, from one end of the earth even 
to the other end of tire earth. According to their deeds 
accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, re¬ 
compense to his enemies.” For behold the day cometh 
that shall burn as an oven , and all the proud , yea, and 
nil that do wickedly, shall be as stubble ; and the day 


172 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

that corneth shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts 
that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. Ma!. 

1. Upon which I remark, that this verse of Mala- 
chi clearly contemplates a time when the wicked shall 
have no abiding place on the whole globe. The only 
and proper place for men who are bad, to have root 
and branch in, is the earth ; therefore from the earth, 
where they root their affections , and branch out their 
plans of happiness, they must be finally rooted out. 
But respecting the righteous, it is said, and very perti¬ 
nently too, as I apprehend, respecting the Millennium, 
So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west , 
and his glory from the rising of the sun. And they 
shall go forth and look upon the carcases of the men 
that have transgressed against me, for their worm shall 
not die, neither shall their fire be quenched. Isa. 6G,2I, 
This last verse by Isaiah as clearly points out the de¬ 
struction of the wicked from among the righteous, as 
does Malachi; because he says they, referring to those 
who shall worship Him, in verse 23, shall look upon the 
carcases of the men who have transgressed against 
Him ; from which it is evident, that both conditions are 
to he accomplished on the earth. Again, from the 
following remark of Isaiah, we gather, that the right¬ 
eous are to have a twofold cause of rejoicing, namely, 
because He shall then sever between the good and the 
bad ; and that it is not in relation to the great and last 
judgment day that the prophet speaks, we instance the 
qualification of his w ords, namely, that then their bones 
shall flourish, which idea may be considered as illustra¬ 
tive, both of the resurrection of the righteous dead. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


173 


and Lite great change which at that time will doubtless V; 
be ejected in the constitutions and longevity of the 
saints, who shall then be alive on the earth, who had 
not died. The verse is as follows : And when ye shall 
see this your heart shall rejoice , and your bones shall 
flourish like an herb ; and the hand of the Lord shall 
be known towards his servants , and his indignation to¬ 
wards his enemies . Isaiah 6G, 14. The manner, there¬ 
fore, in which God will destroy the wicked from the 
earth, if we are correct in supposing that his former 
destructions of them are to be relied on as precedents, 
will also be chiefly by supernatural means, at that day, 
carried into effect by the agency of angels commission¬ 
ed to destroy, w'ho will slay with an invisible sword : 
such as king David saw in the hand of an angel, who 
stood between the heavens and the earth, just over the 
threshing floor of Ornon the Jebusite—which angel 
had slain at that time of the Jews, for a great sin they 
had committed, seventy thousand men. 2 Samuel 24, 

15. V 

The pestilence God may employ as a vengeful min¬ 
ister of his wrath among them, and in divers places 
great earthquakes, and at sea by terrible tornadoes, 
the waves roaring, and men’s hearts failing them, for 
fear of the things that are now coming upon the earth. 

These things will come suddenly upon the wicked, in 
a day and an hour when they think not, in the midst of 
buying and selling, feasting and mirth, marrying and 
giving in marriage—when in the midst of pursuits of 
honour and ambitious designs, and oppressions of the , <i 

lioor—when in the height of impious glorying in tkejr > ^ . 

*P 


t.T4 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM:. 


shame, saying, Where is the promise of his coming, for 
since the fathers fell asleep , all things continue as they 
were from the beginning of the creation. 2 Peter 3, 4. 
Such is the language of infidelity in all ages, and in all 
countries. But here, at this stage of the argument, I 
shall introduce what I conceive to be a decision, that 
mankind will not by slow degrees, as is supposed by 
many, become conformed to holiness, so that religion 
shall have no opposition in the earth, and in that way 
finally introduce the Millennium, but shall show the 
contrary will be the fact; though, as I have said else** 
where in this work, the gospel will spread over the 
whole earth, (Italy excepted) and that very speedily, 
because the exertions of the times strongly denote it. 
Yet this is no argument by which to prove all souls 
will become its recipients, for in our own country, 
where the gospel is universally known and respected in 
the general sense, how many are not saved by it! That 
the Millennium shall not be introduced in such a way, 
t prove by the remarks of St. Paul to the Thcssaloni- 
ans, 5th chapter, 1st, 2d and 3d verses, “ But of the 
limes and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I 
write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly, that 
nhe day of the Lord so Cometh as a thief in the night. 
For when they shall say, peace and safety, then sudden 
destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a wo¬ 
man with child, and they shall not escape.” 

This day of the Lord which is to come, cannot be 
Understood of the final judgment, because in the 4th 
chapter of the same letter to the Thessalonians, the 
Chapter preceding the one from which I have •made the 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 175 

0 

quotation of the above three verses, it is announced by 
the Apostle, that that day of the Lord is the day in 
which he will descend from heaven with a shout, with 
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, 
and that then the dead in Christ shall arise—which 
•cannot, therefore, allude to tire general judgment, but 
to the first resurrection only. In order, therefore, to 
prove, that at the commencement of the Millennium, 
there will be many wicked on the earth, we have only 
to notice the third verse of the fifth of Thessalonians, 
which declares the fact by saying, For when they shall 
say, peace and safety, than sudden destruction comcth 
7ipon them, &tc. It is, therefore, dear, that as destruc¬ 
tion cometh not upon the righteous at that day, that it 
is upon the sinner, who shall then be cut off. This/ 
view I think corroborates all the other passages which 
I have quoted, to prove a general destruction of the 
wicked at the time of the first resurrection, when the 
Millennium will commence. 

From the account St. Paul gives of the first resur¬ 
rection, in his fourth and fifth chapters to the Thessa- 
lonians, it is certain there shall be a universal ruin of 
■all sinnersand it is as certain, that a first resurrection 
implies a second, and the lapse of time between will as 
certainly consist of one thousand natural years, for 
thus it is stated by St. John, Rev. 20, 5. But the rest 
of the dead lived not again until the thousand years 
were finished. Rut when the time shall have nearly 
arrived for the glorious Millennium to commence, sud¬ 
denly there shall be felt a trembling, for God will shake 
terribly the earth, till the wicked are shaken out of iu 


176 


ENpEOTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


A dismal sound shall go forth, such as will wither the 
soul with terrors, such as once chased the Assyrian ar¬ 
my, who had closely besieged the city of Samaria ill 
the days of the prophet Elisha. 2 Kings 7, 6. For 
now the globe shall be encompassed by the destroying 
angels, such as were seen by king David standing be¬ 
tween the earth and the heaven, over the place of the 
threshing floor of Oman the Jebusite, having a drawn 
■sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. 1 
Chron. 21, 1G. But while this trembling is felt, and 
this heart withering sound is heard, the wicked on all 
bands shall be suddenly seen falling to the ground, 
smote with the pestilence and by the destroying minis¬ 
ters, so that perhaps in one short day the work shall be 
done by earthquakes, by volcanoes, by storms at sea, 
by pestilence, and the invisible sword. 

In this place, I cannot refrain from doing myself the 
pleasure, and also the reader, of introducing an extract 
from the Rev. David Simpson’s Plea for Religion, 
upon the subject of the destruction of Rome, (though 
partially introduced before on page 36) at the end of 
.Daniel’s time, times, and a half time, which he makes 
to consist of 1260 years. His method of arriving at 
such a result is, that a time is a prophetic year, a Jew¬ 
ish year consisting of 360 days only; and that times 
signify two of those prophetic days , amounting to 720 
natural days or years—a time to 360 natural days or 
years, and a half time to 180 natural days or years— 
amounting in all to 1260 days or years, at the end of* 
which Rome papal shall be literally destroyed, which 
lie supposes will not be far from the year A. D. 2000-. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. ' 177 

This highly esteemed author, after having examined 
the prophecies relative to Christ, declares that the evi¬ 
dence is sufficient to establish Him the predicted Mes¬ 
siah. He then by a fair, and, indeed, irresistible, con¬ 
clusion, infers, that if the prophets have pointed out 
Christ so definitely, that they have therefore as definite¬ 
ly pointed out what shall befal the church, and also the 
great man of sin in the latter ages. He then notices 
the visions of Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel, which point 
out kingdoms, monarchies, and empires, which were to 
arise in the earth, and traces their rise and fall along 
the downward stream of time till the uprising of the 
little horn, which should so exalt itself against the Jew s, 
and in after years against the Christian church, and 
makes them apply to the papal powers, which is the 
fact. He then observes, in reference to his destruction, 
that not only shall Antichrist be overthrown, but even 
Rome itself—the place and city where he hath carried 
on his abominations for so many ages, shall be ever¬ 
lastingly destroyed. “ The language of Scripture is 
extremely strong, and is sufficiently clear and precise. 
Thus Daniel: I beheld then, because of the voice of 
the great words which the horn spake. I beheld even 
till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and gi¬ 
ven to the burning flame. Thus, too, St. Paul, where 
he is probably speaking of Antichrist: The Lord Je¬ 
sus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty an¬ 
gels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that 
know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, w ho shall be punished with everlas¬ 
ting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and 


178 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

from the glory of his power. And again, in another 
place in the same epistle, where he is certainly and 
professedly speaking of Antichrist, hesaith : And then 
shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall 
destroy with the brightness of his coming. Thus, too, 
St.John: The beast goeth into perdition. Again: 
Her plagues shall come in one day, and she shall be 
utterly burnt with fire. The kings of the earth shall 
bewail her, and lament for her when they see the 
smoke of her burning standing afar off, for fear of her 
torment, saying., Alas! alas ! that great city Babylon, 
that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come 
—in one hour so great riches are come to nought. They 
shall see the smoke of her burning : And a mighty 
angel took up a stone, like a great millstone, and cast 
it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that 
great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found 
no more at all. And immediately after this, the inha¬ 
bitants of heaven rejoice, saying, Hallelujah , and her 
smoke rose up forever and ever. It must be allowed 
these are very strong expressions, and imply a punish¬ 
ment extremely severe. It is as remarkable also, that 
all the country about the city of Rome is a kind of bi¬ 
tumen, or pitchy substance. And in the year of our 
Lord 80, a fire burst out from beneath the ground in 
the middle of the city, and burnt four of the principal 
heathen temples, with the sacred buildings of the Capi¬ 
tol. Italy, indeed, is a store house of fire. And when 
the 1260 years, or time , times, and a half time , shall 
have elapsed, and the time to cleanse the sanctuary 
come, Rome itself, imperial Rome, with all its magni 


170 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

. \ 

licence, will be absorbed in a lake of fire, and sink into 
the sea, to rise no more at all forever.” Thus far the 
opinion of Mr. Simpson, which is an awful but rational 
conclusion. 

1 would here remark, with humble confidence, 
that when Babylon is thus destroyed, the period 
will not be the general judgment; because the kings 
and merchants of the earth are represented as standing 
far off, and fearing her torments , and bewailing the loss 
of so great riches, which, it is not reasonable to sup¬ 
pose, they wmuld do, if the judgment were passed by. 
It is probable this signal mark of vengeance against 
Rome, or spiritual Babylon, will take place a little 
sooner than the destruction of sinners in other pla¬ 
ces, that she may be distinguished as peculiarly ob¬ 
noxious to the displeasure of the great God above other 
sinners ; and perhaps, too, that others may improve 
this terrible example during the short respite which 
may be granted, and repent, for great are the mercies 
of God if they w ill lay it to heart. But of the saints 
in that country, it is said, Come out of her, my peo¬ 
ple, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye 
receive not of her plagues Rev. 18, 14. And now it 
may be, that what St. John savy w ill be accomplished 
literally with all sinners, (as was the fact with the a«- 
ctfc&t Gog and Magog of Syria, the carcases of whose 
army was eaten of the fowls and beasts of the moun¬ 
tains of Israel) except such as shall be destroyed by 
fire in the country of Rome. And I saw an angel 
standing in the sun, and he cried w ith a loud voice, 
saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, 


180 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


come and gather yourselves together unto the supper 
of the great God, that ye may eat of the flesh of kings, 
and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, 
and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, 
and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small 
and great. Rev. 19, 17, 18. 

But in the midst of all this terror and desolation, the 
heart of the Christian shall not be moved, nor one of 
their lives shall be lost; for, if at sea, the storm that 
whelms the wicked in the deep, shall waft the righteous 
to the shore ; or, if in sinking cities that go down to 
the pit, when the earth opens her mouth to swallow them 
up, a way shall be made for their escape; or, if the 
volcanoes shoot their cataracts of fire to the clouds over 
the heads of the righteous, the same God who was with 
the three Hebrews in the seven times heated furnace, 
will withhold the flames till they are escaped. Nor the 
pestilence, nor the destroying angel’s sword, shall hurt 
them, for who can prevail against those who have in 
them the seal of the living God, which is holiness of 
heart. 

Thus shall be removed from the earth all sinners, and 
the way prepared for the immediate commencement oi 
the Millennium, the seventh day of the great week from 
the creation, when the whole church shall rest, and shall 
take the kingdom and possess it forever. This is the 
great antetype of all the other Sabbaths—this is that 
good thing which they in the law, and the prophets 
shadowed forth. 


SEVENTH BrVISZOH. 


Shows when the Millennium may be expected. The method pur¬ 
sued in this division, to ascertain the arrival of that period, will 
he, 1st, by a compared and concise view of the several kinds of 
ancient Jewish Sabbaths; and, 2d, as analagous to the same 
point, will be presented a view of natural and supernatural peri¬ 
odical recurrences. 3d. An illustration of the three visions in 
the book of the prophet Daniel, will be given, so far as it is 
thought they refer to the Millennium, or to the time when the 
sanctuary shall be cleansed. 




The sevenfold Sabbaths, kept by Israel’s kings, 

Had couch’d beneath those numbers, mystic things ! 

And nature, from her deeps, her latent periods pour. 

Her ceaseless powers move on, her oceans roar ; 

And heaven its wonders, too, sometimes to men disclose, 
As once was shown a Daniel, where Ulai’s water flow's. 


-***®^@ <<4 * 

Many have been the uninspired propheevings of the 
period in which the Millennium is to come. A certain 
anxiety for its speedy commencement probably has 
driven many, who delight in the joyous anticipation, 
beyond the proper boundaries assigned for its com¬ 
mencement by the great chart-book, the Holy Scrip¬ 
tures ; for the accomplishment of all those things fore¬ 
told in the Scriptures, must be realized before its glory 
can bless the world. Tiic measurement of every thou* 

O 


I 


182 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

sand cubits, which characterized the length of that ri*- 
vcr which Ezekiel saw measured by an angel, must be 
realized in its dispensations before that day shall come. 
The account of that symbolical river, which is so mi¬ 
nutely described by Ezekiel, and its final envelopment 
in the sea, is precisely what is meant in other places in 
the word of God, where the sanctuary is spoken of 
prospectively, anticipating a time when it must be 
cleansed. I suppose there will be no disagreement 
with the following opinion : That the sanctuary , as 
spoken of in the Scriptures, is spoken of as being the 
visible church, whether under the patronage of Jews 
or Christians. This appears to be the meaning in 
Daniel, chap. T, verse 11, By him, the daily sacrifice 
was taken away , and the place of his sanctuary was 
cast down. This is spoken of the temple at Jerusalem, 
at which place the church was organized ; therefore, the 
term sanctuary is the church. But this church, this vi¬ 
sible sanctuary, is contemplated as being composed of 
good and bad, otherwise a cleansing would not be 
contemplated, and agrees with the similitude of our 
Lord, who represents the gospel by a fishing net, bring¬ 
ing to the shore both the good and the bad ; but the 
good are preserved, while the bad are cast away. From 
which it is clear, that the sanctuary may be thus con¬ 
taminated, and so continue, till the great era of clean¬ 
sing it shall come. 

The period for cleansing it is the grand point at 
which all books, written upon this subject, have aimed. 
Different periods have been fixed upon for its accom¬ 
plishment, and some of these periods have already 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 18$ 

passed by, and yet the sanctuary is not cleansed—the 
watchmen do not yet see eye to eye, foul members yel 
stain its lovely whiteness. 

I have now before me the opinion of Edward Irving', 
that the prophetic time , times and a half time., making 
1260 years, as foretold by Daniel, should be consider¬ 
ed as having ended at the era of the French revolu¬ 
tion in 1793. But such cannot be the fact, because 
the sanctuary is mot cleansecL There are three nota¬ 
ble Scriptural modes of calculation, which must have 
their fulfilling at the same period, namely, when the 
river, which Ezekiel saw, commenced with Abraham, 
flows into the great sea, which is the Millennium— 

when the 1260 years of Daniel shall .witness the clean- 

* 

sing of the sanctuary—when the 2300 days or years of 
4he same prophet, though commencing at an earlier era, 
shall also have their ending at the cleansing of the 
sanctuary. See Ezekiel, 47th chap, from the 1st verse 
to the eighth inclusive ; Daniel, 7th chap. 25 ; do. 8, 
14. When, therefore, these three are accomplished, 
the Millennium will commence. 

It appears to me to be the heighth of folly to fix 
upon any partial revolution, which has been effected in 
favour of religion since the resurrection of Christ, as of 
sufficient universality to justify the opinion, that the 
sanctuary has been cleansed. Perhaps we cannot fix 
,upon any era when the Church has not been infested, 
more or ‘less, with wicked members, and will unques¬ 
tionably continue to be thus afflicted, till the time of its 
universal cleansing shall come. This, then, we look 
for, with unvarying: confidence, to be accomplished 


184 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


when this river of celestial light, and those two peri- 
riods spoken of by the prophet Daniel, shall be com* 
pleted at one and the same time. Till that time, it 
cannot be said (lie sanctuary is cleansed—till that time, 
the church cannot be called [the Holy Catholic 
Ciiurch. 

The following extract from Mr. Carrington’s re¬ 
marks, under the head of Holy Catholic Church in the 
apostolic creed at evening prayer , corroborates the 
above opinion. I am indebted for the extract to a 
work entitled “ Second Advent ,” by an American lay¬ 
man, who states that he extracted it from a Mr. Warner, 
who, it appears, w T rote upon the subject of the com¬ 
mon prayers of the Church of England , who intro¬ 
duced the following remarks from Mr. Carrington, 
upon the idea of what constitutes a Holy' Catholic 
Church. 

“Considering the general state of the Christian 
hurch, from the first hour of its foundation almost to 
the present, there doth not appear to have been an in¬ 
terval, when the two affections of Holy and Catholic , 
have been fairly compatible ; and all attempts to re¬ 
concile those jarring qualities of sanctity and universa¬ 
lity , have only occasioned a constrained and unwar¬ 
rantable interpretation of the terms. It is too evident 
that the church in general (much less the holy church) 
hath, as yet, been far from being universal. From 
hence, expositors have been obliged to recur to partial 
and figurative constructions ; to distant and even 
sometimes to forced interpretations; in order to sup¬ 
port their unnatural solutions with arguments the most 


I 


r > 

EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 185 

specious, many of which tend, at best, to prove how 
the church may, with some show of probability, rather 
than how it necessarily must be termed at once both 
holy and catholic. But as in Scripture we ought not 
to recede from the letter , without apparent necessity,, 
so why may not the same rule obtain here f Why should 
we quit the full and genuine sense of a word for one 
partial and emblematical, when it may with safety and 
consistency be adhered to? Suppose, then, we can find 
a state or time, when the whole of this article, in the 
plain and literal meaning of the words shall be found 
to be strictly true.; when this complicated affection 
shall belong to the church of Christ by a just and un¬ 
questionable right; when both the holy church shall 
become catholic, and the catholic church shall become 
holy? Ought we not rather to direct our attention to 
that than to any other period wherein we meet with the 
least difficulty or obstruction. In a word, the great 
mistake seems to lie in referring that to either past or 
present which belongs solely and entirely to futurity. 
For if there be any force in words.; if there is any 
dependence to be had on the sacred writers, either un¬ 
der the old or new dispensation ; we are certainly to 
-expect, even on this side Heaven, a state , an age., a pe¬ 
riod in which the church of Christ shall appear in a 
form, in all respects greatly transcending any it has hi¬ 
therto enjoyed, when the holy few shall no longer be 
hid and obscured amidst a sea of iniquity ; no longer 
seem an undistinguished handful in the midst of a 
wicked and idolatrous world ; no longer he contracted 
within so narrow a compass, as that even their existence 

Q* * * . 


166 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


shall seem precarious and uncertain, when, in short,' 
the church of Christ shall become at once so absolute¬ 
ly catholic , that all shall know Him , from the least 
even to the greatest; and so universally holy, that eve* 
ry one who is left in Zion , and who remaineth in Je¬ 
rusalem, shall be called holy, even every one who is 
written among the living. Here then we must seek 
that church, w hich is at once the object of our wishes 
and of our faith; and that communion of saint3, we 
long so ardently to be joined to. But it w ill be well 
worth our while to take a more comprehensive view of 
this glorious and remarkable period. 

To trace the declaration of it, indeed, through all its 
stages, were to go very far back in the Holy Scrip¬ 
tures, since it is certain that it was not absolutely un¬ 
known in the first ages. There are evident footsteps 
of this opinion here and there dispersed in the Chaldee 
paraphrase, and in the Talmud; and with some few 
particularities, it is held by the Jews at this day—And 
indeed, as the learned Mode observes, the second and 
universal resurrection, with the state of the saints after 
it, now so clearly revealed in Christianity, seems to 
have been lessknowm to the ancient church of the Jew s 
than the first resurrection. There are many passages 
in the royal Psalmist, which have an evident tendency 
this way; and some obscure allusions, seme distant 
hints may be met with, even in the books of Moses ; 
but the prophets were principally employed in this 
great discovery, and it engrosses so large a share in 
their writings, as it were almost endless to transcribe. 
In short, we can scarcely turn our eye upon any part of 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN’ MILLENNIUM. 


1ST 


thorn, but it is struck with something which leads us to 
the expectation of a state of glory and peace, of right¬ 
eousness and salvation. In a word, a state truly and 
entirely corresponding to the venerable and expressive 
title of an Holy Catholic Church • 

In vvliat light these several passages of the prophets 
are to be considered—not to mention the almost unani¬ 
mous interpretation of the 'primitive fathers —The 
Holy Ghost seems himself to have instructed us ; for 
ice , sai ill the Apostle, according to His promise, look 
for new heavens and a new earthy wherein dwelleth 
righteousness. From whence it is evident, that those 
prophecies received not their full completion, in the 
first promulgation of the Gospel, and calling in of the 
Gentiles; for both these circumstances were actually 
past, and the Gospel dispensation had taken place 
when the Apostle wrote. Where then are we to trace 
this promise, but in the above recited remarkable pas¬ 
sages ? And what are we to conceive by an earth inha¬ 
bited by righteousness , but a church purged from its 
present gross and numerous abominations, universally 
clear, pious, holy. And in a word, composed of a pure 
and entire communion of faith ? 

That such a period as this is yet due to the church 
of Christ, seems too plain to be denied—But when or 
where to take place, is a matter of some dispute even 
among those, who are nevertheless agreed, with regard 
to the thing in general. But that it certainly will, at 
some time or other, is quite sufficient for our purpose; 
and w hen it does, the church of Christ will be strictly 
and truly, in the full and genuine sense of the words* 


183 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM, 


what it hath never been yet, both holy and catholic. 
But let ns proceed to consider what may give a further 
light, both into this, and the remaining part of the ar¬ 
ticle. 

St. John, as he was to close the succession of pro¬ 
phets, seems appointed to repeat such of the ancient 
predictions as were yet to receive their completion ; 
with such further illustration as the shorter distance of 
their approaching periods rendered necessary. And 
this remarkable dispensation so far from being forgot¬ 
ten, is discussed by him with the greatest particularity 
and exactness. In a word, what glimmered in the wri¬ 
tings of Moses and David ; what we saw as through a 
glass darkly, in the prophets, this Apostle seems to 
have shown us openly, without a parable, and face to 
face. 

After a short but clear description of such remarka¬ 
ble particulars as were successively to take place in or¬ 
der to usher in that glorious economy, “ I saw,” says 
he, “ an angel come down from heaven, having the 
key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his 
hand—And he laid hold on the dragon, that old ser¬ 
pent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a 
thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, 
and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should 
deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years 
should be fulfilled. And I saw the souls of those who 
were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the 
word of God, and w ho had not worshipped the beast— i 
and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand * 
jears. But the rest of the dead lived not till the thou- 


EXFECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 180 

sand years were finished.” At the end of this Millen¬ 
nium succeeds the second and general resurrection; 
and the happy interim is evidently the new heavens and 
the new earth of Isaiah ; the latter days of the pro¬ 
phets; the times of restitution ; the times of the re¬ 
freshing of the Gospel; and the golden age of the 
heathens. The attendant circumstances are too plain¬ 
ly parallel, the likeness and conformity too strong, for 
us not to see that they are one and the same thing— 
Behold here then the long promised kingdom of the 
son of David ; behold his universal dominion in a tru¬ 
ly catholic church. Nor can we turn our eyes on the 
companions of that happy reign, the noble army of 
those that had been beheaded for the testimony of Je¬ 
sus, and for the word of God ; and who had not wor¬ 
shipped the beast, neither had received his mark upon 
their foreheads, or in their hands, whom the Lamb 
shall therefore make kings and priests, and they shall 
reign on earth, without exclaiming, here is indeed a 
communion of saints—a blessed un mixed society of the 
just, enjoying universal harmony, and a free and un¬ 
interrupted intercourse with God, their King and Sa¬ 
viour, the holy angels, and each other. I think it, by 
no means, either impossible or improbable, that an opi¬ 
nion which had so long and so universally prevailed in 
the church; which had borne so large a share in the 
hopes, belief, words, and writings of so many of its 
members ; and been patronized by apostles, apostolic 
men, confessors, and martyrs, should find a place in 
some of their confessions of faith—rather very impro¬ 
bable it is, that a point by them esteemed of so much 


100 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM.^ 

importance should bewholly neglected—not impossi¬ 
ble that such an one may be this very confession be¬ 
fore us ; or at least, that this remarkable and mysteri¬ 
ous article (which I think, according-to the usual inter¬ 
pretation of it, hardly carries weight enough to be 
made a distinct article of faith) may have been trans¬ 
ferred from such into‘‘this creed, at a time when its ge¬ 
nuine intention was not, perhaps, thoroughly under¬ 
stood. Thus far, however, I must think certain, that 
by the help of this hypothesis, we have a much less in¬ 
tricate and constrained solution of this article, than any 
of those which are usually given us. In which opi¬ 
nion I have the satisfaction of finding myself suppor¬ 
ted by the ready concurrence of some persons of dis¬ 
tinguished characters for learning and judgment, as well 
as zealous attachment to the genuine doctrine of sound 
and orthodox Christianity.” 

Thus far we have the opinion of Mr. Carrington, 
that till the sanctuary is cleansed, or till the Millenni- 
am foretold by the Revelator commences, the church 
cannot be considered strictly a Holy Catholic Church. 
Though I disagree with his opinion, that the Millenni¬ 
um is the new heaven and the new earthy promised in 
the Scriptures, because this idea embraces an era which 
lies beyond the time in which the sanctuary is to be 
cleansed. We are not told by the Revelator to expect 
the creation of a new church at that time, but that the 
Lamb shall have the victory over his enemies, which is 
.the cleansing of the sanctuary, promised by Daniel the 
prophet. This glorious time will be the period when 
’that which -St. John saw shall be fulfilled. See Rev. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 101 

21, 2, 3, 1. And 1 John saw the holy city, new Jeru¬ 
salem, coming down from God out of heaven*, 'prepared 
as a bride adorned for her husband. And 1 heard a 
great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the taber¬ 
nacle of God is with men. This, then, is the Millen¬ 
nium ; but the period for the new creation is yet fu¬ 
ture, because it is stated in the verse following, And he 
that sat upon the throne said, Behold l make all things 
new. And the reason why, I conclude, this new hea¬ 
ven and new earth is to be a real creation, and does 
not mean the glory of the church, is because, in verse 
1st of the 21st chap. And 1 sanr a new heaven and a 
new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were 
passed away, and there ivas no more sea. The last 
clause of this verse qualifies the whole, as not belong¬ 
ing to the church rn the Millennium, because the Reve- 
lator says, there was no more sea ; therefore it is spoken 
only of the new creation, which is to be created after 
the Millennium is passed, and also after the general 
judgment da}\ 

I introduced the remarks of Mr. Carrington to show 
that I am not alone in the opinion, that all individuals 
who then compose the visible church, will absolutely be 
holy, else the sanctuary will not be cleansed at all ; 
and also to show that others have held the opinion, that 
there will be two distinct resurrections, one of the righ¬ 
teous at the beginning of the Millennium, and the other 
of the wicked at its end, or soon after. Rut I trust 1 
shall not be charged with egotism when I state, that 
this opinion was already penned in the manuscript of 
my book, before I saw this opinion of Mr. Carrington' 


192 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


who, 1 apprehend, speaks the sentiment of the English 
church upon that subject, and states that he had the 
satisfaction to find himself supported by the ready con * 
currence of persons of distinguished characters for 
learning and judgment, as well as zealous attachment 
to the genuine doctrines of sound and orthodox Chris¬ 
tianity. And further, lest any might suppose that I 
have, in the composition of this work, followed only 
the beaten track of ages, will state, that when I had 
finished the leading positions of it, I had never seen a 
work upon the subject, nor conversed with any but such 
as generally contradicted my views. 

But 1 proceed, and by the aid of Scripture and ana¬ 
logy, hope to demonstrate the true time w hen the Mil¬ 
lennium, so long the subject of the highest hopes of the 
church militant, shall arrive. 

That time has been rightly measured, or reckoned, 
from the beginning of the w orld, there are none who 
can successfully dispute; because the Scriptures are 
not only the most ancient record of chronology, but 
they are the most true. It is said by Adam Clark, 
(see his advertisement before Matthew ) that Archbishop 
Usher has calculated, that Christ w as born exactly in 
the year of the world 4000, to which his own account 
nearly agrees. See his comment on St. Matthew, 3d 
chapter, where he states that John the Baptist was born 
A. M. 3990, and that Christ was born about six 
months afterwards, which very probabh mig ht bring 
bis birth in the year 4000, especially so. if the Baptist 
w as born at anv period of that year . ebseouent to 
the sixth month. Therefore, I do not h \iu> to pub- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


193 


lish my faith, founded on such evidence as is perfectly 
satisfactory to me, that the Millennium will commence 
the moment six thousand years are accomplished from 4 
the creation of the earth ; and that the period spoken 
of is not far hence, is certain, if we trust the chronolo- 1 
gy of Scripture, which none should doubt: From 
which it appears, following the Usherian plan of cal¬ 
culation, which is allowed to be the most correct, if not 
perfectly such, that Christ was born A. M. 4000. 
Since that era, 1827 years have gone by, or if we add 
the four years, which, it is said, the copinion reckoning 
tails short, then it is 1831 from the era of the present 
year since Christ. Add, therefore, 4000 years B. C. 
to 1831, A. D. and it gives the product of 5S31 years 
since the creation ; then add 169 years to 5831, and it 
gives the product of 6000 years. 

One hundred and sixty-nine years from the end of 
this year, accordingly, the expected Christian Millen¬ 
nium will commence. There are many things, con¬ 
nected with this view,, which corroborate the opinion ; 
which things I shall make to pass before the reader for 
his inspection and belief. 

First, I shall give a concise and compared view of 
the various kinds of ancient Jewish Sabbaths, which l 
think typical of the Millennium. 

The appointment of the first Sabbath by the order 
of heaven, which occurred the seventh day from the. 
beginning of creation, was intended as a day of rest 
for man, aud also for a day of peculiar expressions of 
love and worship to the Creator, as well as to aid the- 
creature in his recollection, that God created the hea- 


194 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

vens and the earth in six davs, but rested on the sew 
venth ; and He ordained the first seventh day, with all 
its succeeding ones, to be observed by all the inhabitants 
of the earth as the grand data of their existence, being 
commenced the day before the ordination of that day 
in the natural, moral and political image of God. 

The Creator greatly demonstrated his benevolent 
purposes towards our race, when he commanded the 
solemn observance of every seventh day. The na¬ 
tions, who, out of regard to God’s authority, have re¬ 
verenced that dav, have been more or less blessed of 
heaven on that account, above other nations who ob¬ 
serve it not. But in the process of ages, God raised 
up from among the nations a people, viz. the Jews, to 
whom he chose to reveal many things, to whom was 
committed the oracles of God, the first Testament. 
Among the records of God’s good pleasure committed 
to this people, are found their obligation to observe 
three distinct kinds of Sabbaths, beside the original 
one. The first was a Sabbath of ivecks, wherein they 
were to number seven Sabbaths, making forty-nine 
days ; and the fiftieth they were to observe, b} T offering 
a new meat offering to the Lord in the most solemn 
manner. Levit. 23, 15, 16. 

The second was a Sabbath of years, wherein they 
were commanded to number six years from their first 
possession of the country, and to keep the seventh for 
a Sabbath, in which they were forbidden to labour, * 
Levit. 25, 4. 

The third was a Sabbath of years also, though of 
much longer continuation, consisting of seveu times 


7 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 195 

seven years, making forty-nine, and the fiftieth to be a 
Sabbath hallowed in a solemn manner—a Sabbath in 
which a general obliteration of all grievances took 
place. It Was a jubilee, a year of restoration to all 
those that were in bonds, or involved in their estates. 
Levit. 25, B. 

Here, then, we find the appointment of three kinds 
ol Sabbaths, for the use of the Jews, which are embo- 
died in the law of Moses, and all that appertained to 
that law, its sacrifices and Sabbaths were, besides 
their intrinsic worth to the Jews, shadows also of some 
good things to come in future ages. For the law , ha¬ 
ving a shadow o f good things to come , arc not the very 
image of the things. Hob. 10, 1. Therefore the 
things they symbolise, are the very image or reality 
pointed at. From which it is extremely easy to per- 
cieve, that the law of sacrifices, with all its accompany¬ 
ing ceremonies, were but the shadows of the great sa¬ 
crifice of Christ for the sins of the whole world ; and 
that He, and the gospel which He preached, and its 
healing effects, were the good things which it shadow¬ 
ed forth. But what good things, distinctly consider-' 
ed, do those three kinds of Sabbaths shadow forth ? 
for they must be considered as shadowing forth some 
good thing, as well as the law of sacrifices. We con¬ 
sider, that though there are three kinds of Sabbaths, 
yet they are one in their nature, and had their uses 
among the Jews, and tvere ordained wholly for times of 
afferings to God, and for feasts to his honour, and for 
i*est to the land, and for times of release to the oppres¬ 
sed, and restoration of involved estates, and to keep in 


196 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


remembrance the wonderful things God had done for 
them as a nation, lest they should forget his name, and 
say who is the Lord, and mingle with the surrounding 
heathen nations. We, therefore, conclude them as ty¬ 
pically blended together, and pointing to one event 
only, which event is no where to be found in the Chris¬ 
tian economy, except it be the expected Millennium. 
That great Sabbath of rest, the jubilee of heaven, 
wherein the earth shall rest from a weight of wicked¬ 
ness, which has oppressed it six thousand years, when 
that time shall have arrived,but then shall rest a thousand 
years, which is one seventh part of the time, and in 
this respect most strikingly resembles all the former 
kinds of Sabbaths, which were its forerunners. 

The resemblance that all these kinds of Sabbaths 
bear to each other in one respect, we will now endea¬ 
vour to present to the reader, with the desire of im¬ 
pressing upon his mind, that they, on that one account , 
point to the Millennium, which particular is, that they 
are all governed by the number seven. The first Sab¬ 
bath consisted of one perfect and whole day, which is 
the seventh part of seven days, or a week of days, but 
the seventh a Sabbath. 

The second kind of Sabbath was observed at the 
end of seven weeks, or when they had numbered seven 
Sabbaths from the day when the sheaf for a wave of¬ 
fering bad been presented to the priest. From that 
day, therefore, they were to number seven weeks, ma¬ 
king forty-nine days, but the fiftieth must be a holy day 
——this was a week of weeks. 

The third kind consisted of seven years, and the se* 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 107 

venth year was a Sabbath—this is a week of years. 
The fourth kind consisted of seven times seven years, 
and the fiftieth a Sabbath—this was the great week 
of years, which embraced in it seven weeks of years, 
or seven Sabbaths of years. 

The first Sabbath, or every seventh day, which was 
given to Adam, was a sanctification of one seventh part 
of the time, in reference to rest, and the ivorship of 
God. 

The three other kinds of Sabbaths which were given 
to the Jews, was a sanctification of one seventh part of 
the time in reference to rest for the land, to offerings to 
God, to release of the oppressed, and restoration of in¬ 
volved estates, every fiftieth year after seven Sab* 
baths of years were accomplished. 

So also shall the Millennium, consisting of a thou¬ 
sand years, be the sanctification of one seventh part of 
the age of the earth, in reference to the absence of all 
moral and natural evil, as those other kinds were for 
the purposes for which they were ordained. This 
view of the subject exceedingly exalts the propriety of 
the expectation of a thousand years’ Sabbath, and w’ill 
effect its design with equal certainty. 

Now if these resemble each other in the manner of 
their constitutions, observing the order of sevens, will 
it not be in exact coincidence with these, if we say that 
seven thousand years is a week, but the seventh a Sab¬ 
bath, which will be the great week of time. 

I believe that each day in the first week of time stood 
•each the representative of a thousand years; for it is 

B* 




198 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


said of God, that with him a day is as a thousand 
years, or a thousand years a day. With this view, in 
reference to his saying a thousand years is as a day, I 
have concluded, that seven thousand years are but se- 
ven days, and that the seventh is the Sabbath, which 
is the Millennium. 

From the beginning, and through all the sacred 
book, the number seven appears to be a perfect num¬ 
ber, and is used to denote a perfection belonging to 
whatever it illustrates, or which it symbolizes. 

In the beginning, seven days was a perfect week. 
God added seven days to his promised patience toward 
the old world. Clean beasts were taken into the ark 
by sevens. The years of plenty and famine in Egypt, 
and their emblems, were marked by sevens. The days 
of feasting, or feast of tabernacles, of unleavened 
bread, was observed by semis. The number of beasts, 
ill sundry of their oblations, were offered by sevens. 
The golden candlesticks had seven branches. Seven 
priests, with seven trumpets, went round the wall of 
Jericho seven days, and seven times, on the seventh day. 
Wisdom had her seven pillars. 

In Revelations, there were seven churches, seven 
candlesticks, seven spirits, seven stars, seven seals, seven 
trumpets, seven thunders, seven vials, seven plagues, 
and seven angels to pour them out on the seven headed 
monster. 

Seven often signifies many, -as sevenfold, and is com¬ 
plete in whatever it refers to. And as the first w r eek of 
time was not complete nor perfect, without its seventh 
day of rest, which was, and is now,emphatically the glory' 


V 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 103 

of the week, so neither shall the great week of seven 
thousand years be perfect without its seventh day of 
Millennial rest, which will be the glory of the great 
week of time. 

Seven days for a week, and the seventh a Sabbath ; 
seven weeks for a week, and the seventh a Sabbath; 
seven years for a week, and the seventh for a Sabbath ; 
seven times seven years for a week, containing seven 
Sabbatic years, and the fiftieth for a Sabbath ; seven 
thousand years for a week, and the seventh a Sabbath , 
appear to be analagous to each other, and beaT the 
marks of design, in reference to the Millennium, or the 
great Sabbath of rest to a weary world. 

Having presented the evidence of sacred chronolo¬ 
gy to prove that time has been rightly measured, and 
having made a comparison of Sabbaths, I now, in the 
third place, proceed to notice the recurrences of re 
markable events, as promised in the Seventh Division 
of this book, and will, in a certain sense, corroborate 
the two former statements, viz. of chronology, and a 
comparison of Sabbaths—as follows : 

Wnen the recurrence of the same thing is observed 
to transpire, from age to age, in a periodical way, it is 
natural to expect a return of the same thing, unless 
nature be changed in her laws. 

The recurrences which 1 shall notice, and are obvi¬ 
ous to all, are, first, Tire ebb and flow of the tide wa¬ 
ters every twelve hours—the revolution of the earth on 
her axis every twenty-four hours—the change of the 
moon from full >to full every lunar month—the blowing 
of the trade winds six months from north to south, and 


/ 


i 


200 


EXPECTED ‘CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


six months from south to north—the annual revolution 
of the earth round the sun, producing all the varieties 
(if the seasons within the compass of twelve months— 
and the migration of fowls and fishes from one clime to 
another at certain periods of the year. From a know¬ 
ledge, therefore, that these things recur periodically, it 
is safely calculated that they will continue to transpire 
in their order, till the order of nature which produces 
them is •changed. 

If we view the planets, we shall find them exact in 
their periods of return : Mercury travels round the sun 
in some time less than three months—Mars in some 
timeless than two years—-Saturn in nearly thirty years , 
and Herschel in eighty-three years. And on the ac¬ 
count of their faithful return to the same point in the 
heavens in exact periods, have, therefore, become way- 
marks to the astronomer. 

Now as these things in the natural world are certain 
to return at definite periods, and never disappoint ex¬ 
pectation, so neither will the periods that have produ 
ced some supernatural event, disappoint the expectation 
of a return ; or the return of such a period will be ex¬ 
pected to produce some great and supernatural event, 
but not of the same kind, though originated by the 
same cause, which is God. 

The events to which I allude, are, first, that series of 
events, which took place from the era of the great de¬ 
luge, till the remarkable appearance of the everlasting 
God to Abraham, to whom the important promise was 
made, that of his seed the Messiah should come, and 
that account all the families of the earth were in him 


'EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


201 


“to be blessed. The flood, the destruction of all man¬ 
kind except eight, the repeopiing of the earth from No¬ 
ah’s family, the confusion of language at the building 
of Babel, the calling of Abraham from his father’s 
house to go to an unknown land, and the revelation 
God made to him there concerning his seed and poste¬ 
rity are the grand events which transpired about the 
year of the world 2000, and are considered altogether 
supernatural. 

A second series of events, which w r ere also superna¬ 
tural, was the advent of Christ, the incarnation of the 
Word—fie who was and is the Mighty Counsellor, the 
Everlasting Father, tne Ancient of days, Creator and 
Upholder of universal nature, who then revealed Him¬ 
self in a stable at Jerusalem, to become a sacrifice for 
the redemption of men. Thirty-three years of sor¬ 
rows, which marked the humble life of God incarnate, 
and his final crucifixion on Mount Calvary, hisresurrec- 
tion from the dead on the third day after his death, and 
glorious ascension from earth to heaven forty days af¬ 
ter, in full view of above five hundred witnesses, all of 
which were accomplished about the year of the world 
4000- 

A third series of supernatural events may he expec¬ 
ted to be unfolded, when the third great period of time 
shall be accomplished, which is now within one hun¬ 
dred and seventy-three years of that time. The 
events which will then take place are, a destruction of 
all sinners from among the living righteous—a resuiv 
rection of all the righteous dead at the sound of the 
archangel’s voice, “ for tine trump shall sound, and 


202 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

the dead in Christ shall rise first”—the real appear¬ 
ance of the Son of Man in his own glory, and that of 
his Father and the holy angels, will then take place. 
A restoration of all living saints, who have not tasted 
death, to the paradistical state, may then be expected 
—all natural and moral evil banished from the earth, 
and Satan shut up in the bottomless pit for a thousand 
years. 

-mJ 

There have been two thousand years from the crea¬ 
tion, without any written law from God—this is called 
the patriarchal dispensation till Abraham. 2. There 
have been two thousand years under the law, where 
there has been a written revelation, a succession of 
prophets, and a divine ecclesiastical establishment. 
This was the dispensation of the law, given to Moses 
and the Jews at Horeb, which includes from Abraham 
till Christ. i 

3. Nearly two thousand years have now elapsed 
since the era of the nativity of our Lord, when the 
Christian dispensation commenced, and will, at the 
close of the next century, arrive at the zenith of its 
splendour and victories on the earth. j 

Thus far having presented the recurrences of na¬ 
ture as analagous to the main point, which, as it re¬ 
lates to the unfolding of supernatural events at almost 
given periods since the world began, amount to a mo¬ 
ral certainty, in connexion with the typical Sabbaths, 
that at the end of the next century the Christian Mil¬ 
lennium will commence. 

We shall next, and fourthly, attempt, from a view of 
the prophet Daniel’s prophecy, to show when the Mil 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM# 20$ 

lennium will come. The prophecies respecting that 
time, are contained in the second, seventh and eighth 
chapters of this book. I shall examine them in their 
order, in reference to this subject; but shall omit, for 
the sake of brevity, the very interesting history of the 
incapacity of the wise men of Babylon to interpret the 
extraordinary dream of their monarch, Nebuchadnez- 
zar \ but shall commence with the dream as unfolded to 
the king by Daniel. See book of Daniel, chap. 2, 
verse 31 to 35 inclusive. Thou, O king, saivest and 
behold a great, image . This great image, whose bright¬ 
ness was excellent, stood before thee ; and the form 
thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine 
gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and his 
thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron 
and part of clay. Thou sawest till a stone was cut out 
without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that 
were of iron and clay , and brake them in pieces. Then 
was the iron , the clay, the brass, the silver, and the 
gold broken to pieces together, and became like the 
chaff of the summer threshing floors ; and the wind 
carried them away that no place was found for them : 
and the stone that smote the image became a great moun¬ 
tain, and filled the whole earth. 

\ But before we treat upon the subject of the stone 
becoming a great mountain and filling the whole earth, 
we shall attend to the interpretation of Nebuchadnez¬ 
zar’s dream as given by Daniel. « 

It appears this great image, seen by Nebuchadnezzar 
m his dream, signified four great monarchies, of which 
the Babylonish empire was the first and greatest. This 


204 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM*. 

was the first monarchy imposed on ma*i after the flood, 
and was commenced by Nimrod, he w ho once became 
a mighty hunter before the Lord—(See Gen. 10, 8,)— 
of whom we have the following account from the an¬ 
cient Jewish writings, given by Dr. Clark. We learn 
from verse 10 of chap. 10, that this Nimrod founded 
several cities in his time, which were called Babel, 
Erech, Achad, and Calen, in the land of Shinar. He 
was thought a bad man, which his very name seems to 
signify. Nimrod comes from the word mar ad , which 
signifies, he rebelled,; and theTargum on 1 Chron. 1, 
10, say Nimrod began to be a mighty man in sin, a 
murderer of innocent men, and a rebel before the Lord. 
He was mighty in hunting, or in prey, and in sin be¬ 
fore God, for lie was a hunter of the children of men,, 
and said to them, depart from the religion of Shem,. 
and cleave to the institutes of Nimrod. The Targum 
of Jonathan ben Uzziel says, “ From the foundation 
of the world, none was ever found like Nimrod, pow¬ 
erful in hunting, (wild beasts of the age, which then 
unquestionably abounded) and in rebellions against the 
Lord.” The Septuagint calls him a surly giant before 
the Lord ; upon which Dr. Clark remarks, “ that 
Nimrod having acquired power, used it in tyranny and 
oppression ; and by rapine and violence, founded, that 
domination, which was the first distinguished by the 
name of kingdom on the face of the earth*” This 
kingdom, commenced by Nimrod in tke year of the 
world 1771, was ended with the death of Belshazzar, 
in the year of the world 3460 ; and in the “ time of 
Nebuchadnezzar it extended over Chaldea, Assyria, 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 20 5 

Arabia, Syria, and Palestine. He was the head of 
gold.” 

The second great monarchy, represented by a breast 
mid arms of silver, “was the Medo Persian empire, 
which properly began under Darius the Mede, allowing 
him to be the same with Cyaxares, son of Astyages, 
and uncle to Cyrus the great, son of Cambvses. He 
first fought under his uncle Cyaxares, defeated Nerig- 
issar king of the Assyrians, and Croesus king of the 
Lydians ; and by the capture of Babylon, B. C. 53S, 
he terminated the Chaldean empire.” “ On the death 
of his father Cambyscs, and his uncle C 3 'axares, B. 
C. 536, he became sole governor of the Medes and 
Persians, and thus established a potent empire on the 
ruins of that of the Chaldeans.” 

The third great empire, represented by a belly and 
thighs of brass , was “ the Macedonian or Greek em¬ 
pire, founded by Alexander the Great. He subdued 
Greece, penetrated into Asia, took Tyre, reduced 
Egypt, overthrew Darius Codomanus at x\rabela, Oct. 
2, in the year of the world 3673, and thus terminated 
the Persian monarchy. He crossed the Caucasus, 
subdued Hyrcania, and penetrated India as far as the 
Ganges ; and having conquered all the countries that 
lay between the Adriatic sea and this river, the Gan¬ 
ges, he died A M. 3681, and after his death, his em¬ 
pire became divided among his generals, Cassander, 
Ly simachus, Ptolemy, and SeJeucus. Cassander had 
Macedon and Greece ; Lysimachus had Thrace, and 
those parts of Asia which lay on the Hellespont and 
Bosphorus ; Ptolemy had Egypt, Lybia, Arabia, Pa- 

S 



206 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


•t 


lestine, Persia, Assyria, Baetria, Hyrcania, and all 
other provinces, even to the Ganges. Thus this em¬ 
pire, founded on the ruin of that of the Persian, had 
rule over all the earth.” 

“ The fourth great empire, represented by legs of 
iron, and feet part iron and part clay, was the Roman 
government, the same mixed with the barbaric nations, 
and divided into ten kingdoms/’ “ I think (says Dr. 
Clark) this means, in the first place, the kingdom of 
Lagidae, in Egypt, and the kingdom of the Seleuci- 
dae, in Syria. And secondly, the Roman empire, 
which was properly composed of them. 

“ First—Ptolemy Lagus, one of Alexander’s gen¬ 
erals, began the new kingdom of Egypt A. M. 3692, 
which was continued through a long race of sovereign* 
till A. M. 3974, when Octavius Caesar took Alexan 
dria, having in the preceding year defeated Anthony 
and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium, and so Egypt 
became a Roman province. Thus ended the kingdom 
of the Lagidae, after it had lasted two hundred and 
eighty years. 

“ Second—Seleucus Nicator, another of Alexander’s 
generals, began the new kingdom of Syria A. AI. 
3692, which continued through a long race of sove¬ 
reigns till A. M. 3939, when Pompey dethroned Anti- 

• 

ochus Asiaticus; and Syria become a Roman pro¬ 
vince after it had lasted two hundred and forty-seven 
years. 

“ That the two legs of iron meant the kingdom of 
Lagidae and that of the Seleucidae, seems strongly in¬ 
timated by the character given in the text. And the 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM, 


207 

fourth kingdom shall he strong as iron. Forasmuch 
as iron brealceth in pieces and subdueth all things ; 
and as iron that brealceth all these , shall it break in 
pieces and bruise. Verse 40. “ First, the iron here not 

only marks the strength of these kingdoms, but also 
their violence and cruelty towards the people of God. 
History is full of the miseries which the kings of Egypt 
and Syria inflicted on the Jews. Second—it is said 
that these legs should break in pieces and bruise. I] ow 
many generals and princes were destroyed by Seleucus 
Nicator, and by Ptolemy, son of Lagus ? Seleucus 
particularly, could not consider himself secure on his 
throne till he had destroyed Antigonus" Nicanor, and 
Demedrius ; and Ptolemy endeavoured to secure him¬ 
self by the ruin of Perdlccos. and the rest of his ene¬ 
mies. Thirdly—the dividing of the kingdom , the iron 
and clayey mixture of the feet, point out the continual 
divisions which prevailed in those empires, and the 
mixture of the good and evil qualities which appeared 
in the successors of Seleucus and Ptolemy : none of 
them possessing the good qualities of the founders of 
those monarchies; neither their valour, wisdom, nerr 
prudence. Fourth—the efforts which these princes 
made to strengthen their respective governments by al¬ 
liances, which all proved not only useless but injurious, 
are here pointed out by their mingling themselves with 
the seed of men. But they shall not cleave one to ano¬ 
ther. Verse 43. Antiochus Theos, king of Syria, 
married both Laodice and Bernice, daughters of Ptc- 
lemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt. Antiochus Mag¬ 
nus, king of Syria, gave his daughter Cleopatra to 


208 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 

Ptolemy Epiphanes, king of Egypt ; but these mar¬ 
riages, instead of being the means of consolidating the 
union between those kingdoms, contributed more than 
any tiling else to divide them, and excite the most 
bloody and destructive wars. In chap. 7, 7, the pro¬ 
phet, having the same subject in view, says, 1 saw in 
the night visions , and behold a fourth beast , dreadful 
and terrible, and strong exceedingly ; and it had great 
iron teeth : it devoured and broke in 'pieces , and stamp¬ 
ed the residue with the feet of it. And in chap. 8, 22, 
JSfow that being broken (the horn of the rough goat, 
the Grecian monarchy) whereas four stood up for it , 
four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not 
in his power. These, and other declarations, point 
out those peculiar circumstances that distinctly mark 
the kingdom of the Seleucidae, and that of the Lagi- 
dae, both of which rose out of the Macedonian or 
Grecian empire, and both terminated in that of the 
Romans. 

“ Second. Those two legs of iron became absorb- 

I 

ed in the Roman government, which also partook of 
the iron nature; strong, military, and extensive in its 
victories ; and, by its conquests, united to and amalga- 
ted with itself various nations, some strong and some 
weak—so as to be fitly represented in the symbolical 
image by feet and toes, partly of iron and partly of 
clay. Thus, as the Lagidae and Seleucidae arose out 
of the wreck of the Grecian empire, so the Roman 
empire arose out of their ruin. But the empire be¬ 
came weakened by its conquests ; and although by 
mingling themselves with the seed of men, that is, by 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 209 

strong leagues and matrimonial alliances, as mentioned 
above, they endeavoured to secure a perpetual sove¬ 
reignty, yet they did not cleave to each other; and 
they also were finally swallowed up by the barbarous 
northern nations; and thus terminated those four most 
powerful monarchies. 

Thus far we have attended the interpretation Daniel 
gave of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, and compre¬ 
hends a lapse of time from Nimrod’s founding his 
kingdom A. M. 1771, till the Romans, the last of the 
four great empires, were swallowed up by the barba¬ 
rous nations about the year after Christ 478—amount¬ 
ing in all, from Nimrod till then, to 2707 years. But 
the stone which Nebuchadnezzar saw smite the feet of 
the great image, commenced its operations 478 years 
before the end of the fourth empire was accomplished. 
If this interpretation, given by Daniel, is correct, in 
relation to the four great empires, as above stated, we 
look therefore for a fifth kingdom, which lie as clearly 
foretold should arise in the days of the kings of the 
fourth empire , which was the Roman, and at the time 
when it was in its greatest strength and glory, did the 
predicted kingdom begin to make its appearance. 
This stone which Nebuchadnezzar saw smite the feet 
of the great image, was Jesus Christ, who was tiie king 
of the fifth kingdom which be came to establish on the 
earth, and is the very one intended by Daniel, when 
he says in chap. 2, verse 44, And in the days of these 
kings , shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom , which 
shall never be destroyed. 

Dr. Clark remarks, first, “ Tiiat Jesus Christ has 

S* 


X 


210 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

been represented by a stone” and u refers chiefly to 
Ilis church, which is represented as a spiritual building’, 
which He supports as a foundation stone, connects-and 
strengthens as a corner stone, and finishes and adorns 
as a top stone. He is called a stone also, in reference 
to the prejudice conceived against him by his country¬ 
men. Because He did not come in wordlypomp, they 
therefore refused to receive him ; and to them he is 
represented as a stone of stumbling and a rock of of¬ 
fence. 

“ Secondly. He is represented under another no¬ 
tion, viz. that of a stone projected from a catapult, or 
some military engine, which smote the image on its 
feet; that is, it smote the then existing government at 
its foundation, or principles of support; and, by de¬ 
stroying these, brought the whole into iuin. 

“ Thirdly—By this stroke, the clay, the iron, the 
brass, the silver, and the gold, were broken to pieces, 
and became like chad which the wind carried away. 
Now we have already seen that the Roman empire 
which had absorbed the kingdoms of the Lagidae and 
Seleucidae, was represented by the legs of iron, and 
feet and toes of iron and clay ; but as we find that not 
only the iron and clay, but also the brass, silver and 
gold were confounded and destroyed by that stroke, it 
follows that there was then remaining in, and compact¬ 
ed with the Roman government, something of the dis* 
tinguisbing marks and principles of all the preceding 
empires, not only as to their territorial possessions, but 
also as to their distinctive characteristics. There were 
at die time here referred to, in the Roman empire, the 

i . 


"EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 211 

splendour of the Chaldeans, the riches of the Persians, 
the discipline of the Greeks, and the strength of the 
Egyptian and Syrian governments, mingled with the 
incoherence and imbecility of those empires, kingdoms 
and states, which the Romans had subdued. In short, 

* with its political excellencies, it contained the princi¬ 
ples of its own destruction, and its persecution of the 
church of Christ accelerated its ruin.- 

Fourthly. The stone represents Christ and his go¬ 
verning influence. It is here said to be a kingdom, 
that is, a state of prevailing rule and government, and 
was to arise in the days of those kings or kingdoms. 
See verse 44, chap. 2. And this is literally true ; for 
its rise was when the Roman government partook of all 
the characteristics of the preceding empires, was at 
its zenith of imperial splendour, military glory, legis¬ 
lative authority, and literary eminence. 

“ fifthly. This stone, or government, was cut out 
of the mountain ; arose in and under the Roman go¬ 
vernment—Judea being, at the time of the birth of 
Christ, a Roman province. It was cut out without 
hands ; probably alluding to the miraculous birth of 
our Lord ; but particularly to the spiritual nature of 
his kingdom and government, in which no worldly po¬ 
licy, human maxims, or military force, w ere employed ; 
for it was not by might nor power , but by the spirit of 
the Lord of hosts*” 

Thus we have ascertained the commencement, con¬ 
tinuance and present existence of the fifth kingdom 
which was to arise, according to the view of Daniel 
when he interpreted the dream of Nebuchadnezzar* 

A .* '* 


212 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

.But there is one qualification foretold of this fifth king • 
dorn, which no kingdom preceding it was ever endow¬ 
ed with, which was, that it should stand forever, and 
never fee destroyed, and was destined to become a great 
mountain, and to fill the whole earth. But this having 
not yet been accomplished, we naturally look for that 
period in futurity, which shall now claim our further 
attention. 

Perhaps it is not possible, in order to arrive at the 
desired period, to follow a better guide than Dr. 
Clark’s explanation of the prophet Daniel’s visions, 
which is thought he had about forty years after the 
time of Nebuchadnezzar’s extraordinary dream. The 
same paramount empires of the habitable globe that 
should succeed each other, are set forth in the vision 
of Daniel, which were shown to Nebuchadnezzar, 
though by a different kind of symbol, viz. an image 
composed of a variety of metallic substances. Bu 
the prophet Daniel had a prospective view' of those 
four great empires, under the likeness of several mon¬ 
strous wild beasts, such as a lion with the wings of an 
eagle, a bear having three ribs of an animal in its 
teeth, a leopard with four wings like a fowl, and a fourth 
beast dreadful and terrible, and exceeding strong, ha¬ 
ving great iron teeth, devouring and breaking in pie¬ 
ces, and stamping the residue with his feet, being di¬ 
verse from all other beasts before it, having ten horns 
-upon its head. The first w 7 as a lion, with eagle’s 
wings: This was “the kingdom of the Babylonians, 
and the king of Babylon is compared to a lion by Je- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 213 

remiah 5, 6, and by Isa. 5, 29, and is said to fly as an 
eagle. Jeremiah 48, 40, and by Ezekiel 17, 3, 7. 

“ The lion is considered the king of the beasts, and 
the eagle the king of the birds ; and therefore the 
kingdom of Babylon, which was signified by the gol¬ 
den head of the great image, was the first and noblest 
of all the kingdoms, and was the greatest then in be¬ 
ing. Tiie wings of the eagle denote the rapidity with 
which the lion, Nebuchadnezzar, made his conquests j 
for in a few years, by his own arms, he brought his em¬ 
pire to such an extent, and raised it to such a degree of 
eminence, as was truly surprising; and all tended to 
show with what propriety this eagle-winged lion is here 
made his emblem.” 

This Babylonish kingdom is the same with that spo¬ 
ken of in Daniel, chap. 2, 38, and was commenced 
by Nimrod A. M. 1771, and ended with the death of 
Belshazzar A. M. 3466, and was succeeded by the 
Medes and Persians. 

The second “ beast like unto a bear. This was the 
Medo Persian empire, represented here under the sym¬ 
bol of the bear, as the largest species of these animals 
was found in Media, a mountainous, cold and rough 
country, covered with woods. The Medes and Per¬ 
sians are compared to a bear on account of their cru¬ 
elty and thirst after blood ; a bear being a most vora¬ 
cious and cruel animal. The bear is termed by Aris¬ 
totle an all-devouring animal; and the Medo Persians 
are known to have been great robbers and spoilers.” 

This Medo Persian empire, represented in Daniel, 
chap. 7, under the emblem of a bear, is the same re- 


214 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

presented in chap. 2, by a breast and arms of silver,' 
but is succeeded by the Macedonian or Greek empire. 

The third beast like a leopard, having four wings ot 
a fowl, and four heads. “ This was the Macedonian 
or Greek empire, and Alexander the Great its king. 
Alexander and his subjects are fitly compared to a leo¬ 
pard. First, the. leopard is remarkable for its swift¬ 
ness. Alexander and the Macedonians were very ra¬ 
pid in their conquests. Second—the leopard is a spot¬ 
ted animal ; a proper emblem of the various nations, 
with their various customs and languages, which con¬ 
stituted the Macedonian empire. Itmayieferto the 
character of Alexander himself, sometimes mild, at 
others cruel; sober, and drunken ; continent, and le¬ 
cherous ; having a great power of self-government, 
and at other times a slave to his passions. Third— 
the leopard, though small, is not afraid to attack the 
lion. 

“Four wings of a fowl. The Babylonish empire 
was represented w ith two wings, and they sufficiently 
marked the rapidity of Nebuchadnezzar’s conquests \ 
but the Macedonians have here four wings ; for no¬ 
thing, "in the history of the world, was equal to the 
conquests of Alexander, who ran through all the coun¬ 
tries from Illyricum and the Adriatic sea to the Indian 
Ocean and die river Ganges, and in twelve years sub¬ 
dued part of Europe, and all Asia. 

“ The beast had also four heads : Signifying the 
empire after the death of Alexander, divided between 
bis four generals. Cassander reigning over Macedon 
.and Greece • Gysimachus over Thrace and Bethynia t 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 215 
* 

Ptolemy over Egypt; and Seleucus over Sjria.” 
These *ere the four notable horns which sprung up 
out of the empire of Alexander after his death, and 
out of one of these there arose a little horn by itself, 
which became exceeding great. This was Antiochus 
Epiphanes, who persecuted the Jews, and polluted 
their temple and sanctuary, of whom we shall speak 
hereafter. He reigned about the year B. C. 300. 

But after this, Daniel saw, in vision, a fourth 
beast arise, diverse from any that had preceded it. 
See chap. 7, 7. After this , I saw in the night vi¬ 
sions, and behold a fourth beast , dreadful and terrible , 
and strong exceedingly ; and it had great iron teeth : 
it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue 
with the feet of it; and it was diverse from all the 
beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns . This 
beast, seen by Daniel in his vision, is the same seen by 
Nebuchadnezzar in his dream, under the symbol of legs 
of iron, and feet part iron, and part clay, and is the 
same fourth kingdom, according to Daniel’s interpreta¬ 
tion of that dream. See chap. 2, .40, And the fourth 
kingdom shall be strong as iron , &ic* 

This fourth beast, says Dr. Clark, “ is allowed, on 
all hands, to be the Roman empire. It was dreadful, 
terrible, and exceeding strong ; it devoured and broke 
in pieces, and stamped the residue, that is, the remains 
of the former kingdoms, with its feet. It reduced Ma- 
cedoii into a Roman province about one hundred and 
sixty-eight years before Christ; the kingdom of Per- 
gamos about one hundred and thirty-three years ; Sy¬ 
ria about sixty-five ; and Egypt about thirty years be- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

'# 

fore Christ. And besides the remains of the Macedo¬ 
nian empire, it subdued many other provinces and 
kingdoms, so that it might, by a very usual figure, be 
said to devour the whole earth, to tread it down and 
break it to pieces ; and became, in effect, what the 
Roman writers delight to call it, the empire of the 
whole world. This beast “ was diverse from all the 
beasts that were before it, not only in its republican 
form of government, but also in power and greatness, 
extent of dominion, and length of duration. The ten 
horns were ten kingdoms, into which the Roman em¬ 
pire was afterwards divided,” and “ are reckoned 
thus: 1. The Roman senate. 2. The Greeks in Ra¬ 
venna. 3. The Lombards, in Lombardy. 4. The 
Huns, in Hungary. 5. The Alemans, in Germany. 
6. The Franks, in France. 7. The Burgundians, in 
Burgundy. 8. The Saracens, in Africa, and a part of 
Spain. 9. The Goths, in other parts of Spain. 10. 
And the Saxons, in Britain.” These are the ten 
kingdoms represented by the ten toes of the great me¬ 
tallic image, and by the ten horus of the fourth beast. 
The symbols are dissimilar, but the kingdoms signified 
are the same. But while Daniel w as considering the 
horns of the fourth beast, his attention was arrested bv 
another, which he calls a little horn, which arose 
among the other ten horns. 

But here let us pause, while we ascend with Daniel 
to the top of the Mount of Vision, from whence the 
distant empires, kingdoms, and revolutions of future 
ages were clearly seen. This vision was shown to 
Daniel about A. M. 3444, while he was a captive with 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 217 


the whole of his nation at Babylon, about 56G vears 
B. C. ^ 

From the glorious height of mental elevation to 
which Daniel was exalted in that vision of God. there 
were shown to him, as above recounted, fourteen dis¬ 
tinct kingdoms which were to come into being, (except 
the one by which lie was then a captive.) The first, 
therefore, which he nonces as being important, withi 
respect to the welfare of his nation, the Jews, and of the 
church and cause of his God in the earth, was the ap¬ 
pearance of a little horn, which arose about the year 
B. C. 300 ; but of this horn we shall speak hereafter, 
as before remarked. From thence descending down 
the course of time, till after the advent of the Messiah, 
about the year A. D. 740, he saw arising from among 
the ten horns of the fourth great empire, which was the 
Roman,* another little horn, of which the first horn he 
saw B. C. 300years, maybe considered only as a pre¬ 
cursor ofthis last horn, though the first arose 1040 years 
sooner. It is evident that those two horns occupy two 
distinct periods of time, because they were engaged in 
effecting two distinct objects, though actuated by the 
same spirit of wickedness. The first horn gloried in 
the destruction which he poured upon the Jews and 
their temple, as it is stated of him, that he waxed great 
even to the host of heaven ; and it cast down some of 
the host and of the stars to the ground , and relates 

wholly to what he did to the Jews before the time of 

% 

* Though now divided and absorbed by the overflowing of tho 
northern nations, yet retaining the name of Roman. 

T 


21 S EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* / 

Christ. But the second horn, instead of rising out of 
one of the four horns, arose from the midst of ten, and 
aimed at the empire of the whole world, affecting to be 
the vicegerent of Christ on earth. This did not the 
first horn. By the first horn, the daily sacrifice was 
taken away, and the place of the sanctuary cast down. 
This was Antiochus Epiphanes. But of the last horn 
it is said by Daniel, that he plucked up three of the 
ten horns which were round about him; neither was 
this done by the first horn: From which it is clear 
they are distinct powers, and occupy distinct periods, 
though moved by the same spirit of wickedness to mo¬ 
nopolize the empire of the whole globe, by w hich they 
are known as brethren of the same father, who is the 
devil. 

This last horn, who had eyes like the eyes of a man, 
and a mouth speaking great things, is “ among Pro¬ 
testant writers considered the popedom.” The eyes 
in this horn are the symbols of oversight, “ intimating 
cunning and superintendence ; for the Pope calls him- 
telf Episcopus episcoporum , or the Overseer of Over¬ 
seers” 

'The mouth speaking great things, consists in his 
“ pretending to unlimited jurisdiction, binding and 
loosing at pleasure. Promising to absolve from all 
sins, present, past and future ; and threatening to send 
to everlasting destruction all kings, kingdoms and in¬ 
dividuals, who dare to dispute his authority. To none 
can this apply so well, and so fully, as to the Popes oi 
Rome. They have assumed infallibility, which be¬ 
longs only to God. They profess to forgive sins. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 219 

which belongs only to God. They profess to open 
and shut heaven, which belongs only to God. They 
profess to be higher than all the kings of the earth, 
which belongs only to God. And they go beyond 
God, in pretending to loose whole nations from their 
oath of allegiance to their kings, when such kings do 
not please them ; and they go against God, when they 
give indulgences for sin.” This they have done, and 
is the worst of all blasphemies. The dreaded coun¬ 
cils at Rome, under the sole direction of the numerous 
Popes since they became antichristian, have endeavour . 
ed to wear out the saints, “ by w ars, crusades, massa¬ 
cres, inquisitions and persecutions of all kinds. What, 
in this w r ay, have they not done against all those who 
have protested against their innovations, and refused to 
submit to their idolatrous worship. Witness the exter¬ 
minating crusades published against the Waldenses and 
Abbigenses. Witness John Huys, and Jerom of Prague. 
Witness the Smithfield fires in England. Witness God 
and man against this bloody, persecuting, ruthless and 
impure church.” They have also thought “ to change 
times and laws, by appointing fasts and feasts ; canoni¬ 
zing persons whom they choose to call saints; grant¬ 
ing pardons and indulgences for sins; instituting new 
modes of worship utterly unknown to the Christian 
church ; new articles of faith ; new rules of practice ; 
and reversing, at pleasure, the laws both of God and 
man.”— Dodd. 

| This, then, is the beast foreseen by Daniel the pro¬ 
phet, into whose hands the saints were to be given a 
time, times and a half time , which term is, by all com- 


220 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 

mentators, allowed to signify 1260 years, reckoning’ 
380 days to the year. A time is computed at one 
year, or 360 days— times at two years, or 720 days—a 
half time at a half a year, or 180 days. These days 
added, give 1260, which are each a symbol of one year. 
1280 years is, consequently, the time the saints were 
to be given into the hand of this beast, or little horn, 
which arose from among the ten other horns ; but at 
what period of time is it judicious to fix upon as 
the time when the saints were given to this horn ? This 
appears to be the grand difficulty, and as many peri¬ 
ods as writers upon this subject have been hit upon, 
and claim to be the true time. But to me it appears 
perfectly in vain to expect the saints shall be released 
from the grasp of this papal monster, a day sooner 
than the time when the sanctuary, which is the visible 
church on the earth, is to be cleansed, perfectly clean¬ 
sed, from all things that can offend. This sentiment is 
drawn from Dan. 7, 26. Blit the judgment shall sit , 
and they shall take away his dominion , to consume and 
to destroy it unto the cud . Unto what end ? I answer, 
to the end of the 1260 years from the time they were 
given into his hand. But it is also clear, from the 
same verse, that the consumption of this saint-holding 
power shall be somewhat gradual, and from time to 
time shall be shaken. This, in one instance, has alrea¬ 
dy been done. “ In 1798, the French republican ar¬ 
my, under General Berthier, took possession of the 
city of Rome, and entirely superseded the whole papal 
power. This was a deadly w’ound, though at present 




/ 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 221 

it appears to be healed : but it is but merely skimmed 
over, and a dreadful cicatrice remains.” 

But there will surely come a time, probably several 
years this side the Millennium, when this beast must be 
not only shaken, but utterly destroyed at the place 
where he now has his seat and throne in Italy. See 
Daniel 7, 11. 1 beheld because of the voice of the 

great words which the horn spake : 1 beheld even till 
the beast was slain , and his body given to the burning 
flame. This statement of Daniel is wonderfully cor¬ 
roborated by St. John. See Rev. 18, 8. Therefore 
shall her plagues come in one day, death , and mourn¬ 
ing, and famine ; and she shall be utterly burned with 
fire : for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her, i. e. 
the little horn, seen by Daniel among the ten, or the 
woman sitting on many waters, seen by St. John ; for it 
is both one—the papal power. But wdten Italy, the 
seat of this beast, shall come to be thus destroyed, and 
suddenly sunk into the sea, other Catholic countries 
will not so much lay it to heart, as immediately to re¬ 
pent, but will consider it only one of those convulsions 
in nature, to which the earth is always subject, and 
consequently will remain an ‘their ignorance and bigo¬ 
try, mourning over the sad fate of the seat of the 
beast; for who but its friends will mourn over the de¬ 
struction of the great engine of the devil to persecute 
the saints. St. John, by the spirit of prophecy, has 
minutely pointed out this circumstance, where he repre¬ 
sents those who survive the destruction of Italy, as 
saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in 
fine linen , and purple , and scarlet , and decked witli 

X* 


222 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 

gold , and precious stones, and pearls: for in one hour 
so great riches is come to nought. Chap. 18, 16, 17. 

From these circumstances, it appears that the church 
of God will continue under the power of this same pa* 
pal horn, in some sense more or less, till the final de¬ 
struction of all kinds of sinners takes place, as before 
argued, just before the resurrection of the righteous 
dead, which circumstance shall be the great door of 
entrance into the Millennial state. To this view 
agrees the fact of history, concerning the time when 
the saints were first given into the hands of that migh¬ 
ty horn, the papal power, it is well known, that all 
along from the martyrdom of Stephen, whom Saul of 
Tarsus, afterwards St. Paul, aided in putting to death, 
there was, till the time of Constantine, a continued per¬ 
secution of the Christians, except a little space after 
the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, the Roman em¬ 
peror. This persecution was carried on by Jews, 
mostly, till they were disabled to do so by the Ro¬ 
mans ; but thereafter by the Roman pagan powers, 
which at that time involved the world nearly in their 
sway. The blood of Christians flowed freely, begin¬ 
ning with Stephen the first martyr, which, like a small 
spring commencing a river, but in its progress enlarges 
as it passes through various regions of country, recei¬ 
ving tributary streams and springs till it becomes im¬ 
mense : so the blood of Christian martyrs accumula¬ 
ted in depth and in width, as the course of time carried 
them along succeeding ages, till great and horrible 
was the river of blood shed in support of the sacred 
cause. But when, by the immediate and supernatural 


EXISTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 223 


'interposition of a wise providence, Constantine became 
changed from a supporter of the old heathen dragon 
worship to a supporter of the Christian, a stop to the 
effusion of Christian blood was immediately effected* 
It is well known that the emperor Constantine was 
changed in his views of the Christian cause, by the ap¬ 
pearance of a bright and luminous cross in the sky, a 
little after noon day, with an inscription on it in the 
Greek language, BY THIS CONQUER. See 
Clark on Dan. who has quoted this fact from Euseb. 
De Vit. Const, lib. 1, chap, 28, and states that it was 
done while that emperor was in Gaul, A. D. 312, and 
that the prediction of the cross in the skies was fulfil¬ 
led A. D. 331, when he terminated the reign of idola¬ 
try by an edict ordering the destruction of all heathen 
temples, when Christianity became the religion of his 
whole empire. 

But very soon thereafter, the grand though fatal de¬ 
sign of fixing Christianity on a more permanent basis 
was conceived, which was to have its support recogni¬ 
zed in the constitution of the laws of the empire, in¬ 
stead of its being supported by the simple yet best of 
means, the conversion of sinners to God from the error 
of their ways. But this seed of ecclesiastical power 
having thus been planted, it soon vegetated beneath the 
hot beams of the rising sun of riches, power, and 
earthly glory in prospect, which soon began to appear 
quite above the horizon, and to glitter gloriously in the 
view of the church in those dajs. Hence the holy 
zeal which formerly, like a robe, covered the ecclesias¬ 
tics of the Christian church, btcatg* paralyzed by the 


224 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


strong desire of clerical empire and jurisdiction ; the 
genius of which easily invented the imposing title oi 
Universal Bishop. Hence the age of strife, to climb 
up to this seat, commenced, and it was not long ere it 
grew to a throne ; from whence the appalling thun¬ 
ders of those pigmy gods rolled to distant nations 
their supreme commands, as from the throne of the 
Highest. As earlj' as the year A. D. 606, we find an 
account of a third universal bishop, viz. Boniface. 
This, then, is the apostacy spoken of by St. Paul, the 
man of sin w hich he foretold. This is the beast which 
St. John saw’ rise up out of the sea having seven heads 
and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crow ns, and upon 
his head the name of blasphemy. Is not this the beast 
to whom the dragon gave his pow’er, and his seat, and 
great authority ? Is not this the horn w hich Daniel saw 
arise, who had a look more stout that his fellows ? 
This look of his, w hich was more stout than his fellow’s, 
'signified that he would not only lay hold on the secular 
concerns of empires, but also extend his pretended 
power even to the invisible world, and controul the 
destinies of departed spirits. This no mortal power 
before him pretended to do. Into the hands of this 
monster, w’as the -saints delivered for a time , times and 
a half time , or 1260 natural years. The prediction of 
Daniel states, that he was to arise from among ten 
other horns. These horns were formed out of the old 
Roman empire, by the incursions of the northern na¬ 
tions. “ The first of those kingdoms (says Mr. Faber) 
which was the Huns, arose A. D. 356, and the last of 
$hem, that of the Lombards, in the nor a o German v 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 225 

A. D. 483, and about the year 526 in Hungary.” This 
little horn, therefore, came up as it were by stealth 
among these ten kingdoms, but it consisted entirely of 
a spiritual nature, or at least professedly such, though 
secretly aiming at what he finally accomplished, viz. 
the supreme control of all those ten kingdoms, in 
both secular and spiritual affairs. Here, then, was ac¬ 
complished in this fact, the prophecy of the Revelator, 
that the dragon should give to this beast his seat, and 
great authority. The dragon signifies the old pagan 
worship of idols, his seat, and great authority, his uni¬ 
versal sway, and claim of adoration : So this last 
beast came at length to be adored as a god among the 
nations, and is the same who is to continue forty and 
two months—(See Rev. 13, 5)—which forty and two 
months amount, in the prophetic calculation, to 1260 
years ; from which it is clear, that the saints are not to 
be wholly freed from his power till he is destroyed, for 
he is to continue but the forty and two months, there¬ 
fore his power over them shall cease when he ceases to 
exist, and not before. The time, therefore, when the 
saints were given into his hands, was also the time 
when he began to exist in that peculiar character, in 
which Daniel and the Revelator contemplated him. 
Those times in which he was foreseen as a little horn, 
w as while he exercised only in the spiritual concerns of 
the church, after he began his antichristian practices, 
by substituting, for the truths of the Scriptures, the 
wild fancies of mercenary men. 

But such as he was foreseen to be, when he began to 
open his mouth in horrible blasphemies agaiust God, 


226 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


and His tabernacle , and them that dwell in heaven , was 
such as he was when he finally seized the secular power, 
and controlled the councils of empires, and stood upon 
them as a vulture on the highest points of the moun¬ 
tains of the globe, tearing the prey and none to deli¬ 
ver. The true token of his becoming such, was when 
he should be engaged in tearing up by the roots three 
of the ten horns, which were round about him. These 
three stood in his way, or opposed his designs of ag¬ 
grandizement md extravagant demands. He, there¬ 
fore, plucked them up by the roots. See Dan. 7, 8. 
This work he commenced before the year A. D. 740, 
and finished it some little time after that date. I have, 
'therefore, chosen to fix upon the year of our Lord 740* 
as the true time when this beast had come to the full 
-Stature of what he was apprehended to be by Daniel 
and the Revelator, when the saints were given to his 
power. This power he exercised, by giving such di¬ 
rection to the secular arm as pleased him. Having 
then secured this engine, he thenceforward practised 
•according to his will, deposing kings and dissolving 
■subjects from their allegiance, and persecuting the 
saints even beyond bis own papal dominions. I am 
compelled to this conclusion, because I perceive the 
length of time which this beast occupies in his peculiar 
secular character, (distinguished from the spiritual) is 
exactly coeval with the length of time he was to have do¬ 
minion over the saints, both consisting of 1260 vears. 
If, therefore, it is proper to fix upon the year 740, when 
he, by means of the sw'ord in the hand of kings and 
emperors, destroyed from age to age millions of the 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 227 

saints of the Most High. The time, then, when 1m 
shall come to his end, arid the sniiits in all the earth be 
'delivered from his power, both of the sword and his 
false doctrine, will be the year of our Lord 2000. 
The three horns which he plucked up by the roots, 
were, according to Dr. Clark, “ first, the exarchate of 
Ravenna ; second, the kingdom of the Lombards; 
third, the state of Rome.” 

Having now ascertained the time when the 12G0 
years began, and consequently when they shall end, we 
proceed to enquire the meaning of another vision 
Daniel the prophet had, concerning when the sanctu¬ 
ary shall be cleansed, which will be found exactly to 
corroborate, in point of completion, with the 1260 
' years and forty-two months, which I have contended 
will be in the year A. D. 2000. And at the same pe¬ 
riod of time will be finished the one thousand two hun¬ 
dred and threescore days. See Rev. 12,6, which is 
also 1260 years, and is that space of time in which 
the woman, who are the saints, is to be fed in the wil¬ 
derness, and commenced at the time when the saints 
began to bleed and to suffer by the papal secular pow¬ 
er, A. D. 740. 

.1 Although I admit, as is contended by Mr. Faber, 
that “ upon the death of Sabinianus, Boniface the third 
ascended the papal throne, in the beginning of the year 
A. D. 606,” and that one of his first acts that same 
year was to procure from the emperor Phocus a grant 
of the title of Universal Bishop , and supreme head of 
the church ; yet, says Mr. Faber, “ I mean not indeed 
to say, that he immediately began to exercise this un- 


228 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

Christian authority.” This idea of that admired ail* 
tlior, is one upon which I seize as agreeing with my 
view, who contends that the famous 1260 years had 
their commencement A. D. 606, and are to end A. D. 
1866. But the reason why I lay hold of his acknow- 
ledgment, that Boniface, who, by the emperor Phocus, 
was titled universal bishop , did not immediately com¬ 
mence a persecution against the saints, is to show that 
an immediate persecution of the saints was not then an 
object with him, nor yet of his predecessors ; but a 
more definite object was to be finally and firmly sea¬ 
ted on the very pinnacle of earthly power, which was 
truly effected in the year of our Lord 606. But I ap¬ 
prehend this period was not so much noticed by Dan¬ 
iel, as the time when the blood of saints began to 
be poured out, because of their open opposition to the 
wickedness of the pope. There is not a doubt but this 
horn, the papal power, came up by slow degrees, and 
gradually initiated the multitude of those ten king¬ 
doms round about him into his doctrines and ceremo¬ 
nies ; for as early as the fourth century, “ the forbid¬ 
ding to marry, the abstaining from meats, the exces¬ 
sive veneration of supposed mediators, saints and an¬ 
gels, began to creep into the church By which prac¬ 
tices the church was amused, and more and more 
brought on to consent to the imposing titles and usa¬ 
ges assumed by the then corrupted ecclesiastics of the 
church of Rome, its members feeling themselves pro- 
portionably exalted with their leaders ; but while they 
were lifted up in view of their church, they were sink¬ 
ing in ignorance, superstition and bigotry, till the title, 


I 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 229 

with the power, was conferred, which created and per¬ 
fected this idol of papal Rome. 

But when thus exalted, when thus endowed, with the 
supreme government of that sacerdotal empire, “ the 
ancient Pantheon, formerly the general sink of all the 4 
abominations of paganism was restored, though under 
a different name, to its original destination” of idola¬ 
try. The mediatory images of imagined saints, the 
product of corrupted Christianity, occupied the vacant 
places of the mediatory demons of the old dragon 
Gentiles , \ which were destroyed by Constantine ; and 
beside these, instead of Jupiter and the kindred dei¬ 
ties, the virgin mother of Christ, and all his martyred 
saints, received the blind adoration of the ten horned 
beast. Now when all this was finished in GOG, it be¬ 
came apparent to all considerate men, that riches, ho¬ 
nour, glory, power and dominion, was the only object 
of this now totally corrupted papal church; therefore 
opposition to his schemes and plans of coercion, began 
not many years thereafter to be manifested, which led 
to a series of wars and bloodshed. Consequently, we 
find him about the year 740, plucking up by the roots 
three of the kingdoms, which were numbered among 
the ten, into which the old Roman empire was divided 
by the incursions of the northern barbaric nations. To 
this period, therefore, I am inclined to think the pro¬ 
phecy of Daniel referred, when he saw the blood of 
saints began its pouring out, in testimony of their faith, 

’ an d in opposition to that idolatrous church. But if we 
receive the arguments of Mr. Faber, who states that 
the 1260 years had their commencemen A. D. GOG; 


230 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM# 

then their end will come, as he has stated, in A. IX 
18G6, leaving but 39 years from 1827 to accomplish the 
destruction of the Mahometan religion, to accomplish 
the subversion of the papal errors, and to bring to a 
final close the time, times and a half time of Daniel, 
and the 2300 prophetic days of the same prophet, 
when the sanctuary is to be cleansed, to finish the for¬ 
ty-two months, wherein the Gentiles and the corrupted 
Roman church, shall tread the holy city, i. e. the 
saints, under foot, to release the woman, i. e. the saints, 
from her wilderness state of a thousand two hundred 
and threescore days. 

Now if all this is to be accomplished in A. D. 18GG, 
we shall have the Millennium one hundred and four¬ 
teen years too soon. I cannot conceive, therefore, if 
all those antichristian powers are to come to their end 
114 years sooner than the year of our Lord 2000, when 
or how those bloody wars are yet to take place, which, 
by many writers and most people, is contended will be 
the fact, in the land of Palestine, after the Jews are all 
returned to that country, w here the last great war is to 
take place, called armageddon ; because if those anti- 
christian powers are to come to their end in 39 years 
from the present, who then will be left on the earth to 
wage this war with the Jew's, unless we suppose a return 
of the Jews to that country, and those fancied wars are 
all to transpire within the short space of 39 years, 
which is not at all probable. But that the Jews are ever 
to return from the countries, where they are now dwel¬ 
ling, to Palestine, is altogether an unaccountable fan¬ 
cy, and unfounded in the Scriptures, as I conceive ; 


» 

'EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 23t 

but that they shall be brought, in all countries, to be¬ 
lieve that Jesus of Nazareth is the true Christ, is not to 
be doubted. (See introduction upon this subject.) But 
ifvve fix on the year A. D. 740, and from thence count 
downward the vision of 1260 years, when all these 
wonders shall be finished, it will bring the time to A. 
D. 2000, at w hich time it is proper to look for the com- 
mencement of the Millennial years : For the destruc¬ 
tion of all opposition belongs to God, and he can as 
easily effect it in the last year of the next century as in 
a thousand ; for it will be finally the effect of superna¬ 
tural power. 

But let us not forget, that we have ascended with 
Daniel the Mount of Vision, and have, in the prece¬ 
ding pages, recounted his view' of the little horn, that 
came up among ten others in the year of our Lord 
740, which I have endeavoured to show was when th$ 
spiritual and secular power had formed a junction in the 
person of Pope Boniface the Third, i. e. when he was 
found putting that power into execution against the 
three horns, or governments, which he plucked up by 
the roots, which work he commenced before, and fin¬ 
ished soon after the year A. D. 740. Our object, 
therefore, is next to attend to his description of a horn 
which he saw rise out of one of the four horns or king¬ 
doms that came up and occupied part ofthe dominions of 
Alexander the Great. This horn arose one thousand and 
forty years sooner than the one we have seen which 
came up among the ten, as early B. C. as 300 years. 
And in order to prove that it signifies Antiochas Epi- 
phanes, I shall give an account of his predecessors as 


232 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM- 


foreseen by Daniel, following the opinion of Dr. Clark, 
and others quoted by him, in order to come at the iden¬ 
tity of both time and person. While Daniel was a 
captive at Babylon, B. C. 550 years, (and it is thought 
he died there) he in a vision was informed by an angel 
of God, what should befall his countrymen soon after 
their restoration to Jerusalem, and the rebuilding of the 
temple by the order of Cyrus, which was accomplish¬ 
ed by the Jews under the conduct of the prophets 
Nehemiah and Ezra; and also what should befall the 
sanctuary of the Jewish temple through the wicked¬ 
ness of Antiochus Epiphanes, who would pollute it. 
And from a view of the pollution of that sanctuary, 
which was a type and figure of the great sanctuar}, 
the Christian cause, he descends, therefore, in his view 
down the course of ages, to the times of the pollution 
of the Cliristian sanctuary by the papal powers, (as we 
have already described) till it should finally be cleans¬ 
ed at the end of 2300 years, from the times of the pol¬ 
lution of the temple. In the vision which passed be¬ 
fore him, there was presented to his view a ram, w hose 
head was adorned with two lofty horns, but one of them 
was much higher than the other, and the highest came 
up last. These two horns were the kings of Media and 
Persia. See Dan. 8, 20, where it is said, The ram 
which thou sawest having two horns , are the Icings of 
Media and Persia. But the ram itself was Cyrus, 
who was the founder of that empire. “ Cyrus was the 
son of Cambyses, king of Persia, and grandson of 
Astyages, king of Media; by his daughter Mandane, 
who had been given in marriage to Cambyses. Cyrus 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


233 


marrying Roxana, the daughter and only child of hi-s 
uncle Cyaxares, called hi the Scripture Ahaseurus, 
succeeded to both crowns, and thus united Media and 
Persia.” Respecting this ram with bis two horns, 
Daniel says, chap. 8, verse 4, 1 saw the ram pushing 
westward , and northward , and southward , so that no 
beast might stand before him , neither was there any that 
could deliver out o f his hand ; he did according to his 
will , and became great . u The principal theatre of 
their wars was against the Scythians, northward; 
against the Greeks, westward ; and against the Egyp¬ 
tians, southward.” There was no nation at that time 
that could stay the progress of the Persian arms. 

The prophet Daniel says, verses 5 and G, And as 1 
was considering , behold a he-goat came from the west 
on the face of the whole earth , and touched not the 
ground ; and. the he-goat had a notable horn between 
his eyes . And he came to the ram that had two horns 
which 1 had seen standing before the river , and ran un¬ 
to him in the fury of his power*” This he-goat was 
the emperor Alexander the Great, who invaded Asia 
B. C. 334 years. It may be pleasing to the reader to 
learn why in the Scriptures he is called a he-goat . Bi¬ 
shop Newton states that two hundred years before the 
time of Daniel, they were called the iEgeadae, the 
goat’s people; the origin of which name is said to be 
as follows : Caranus, their first king, going with a 
multitude of Greeks to seek a new habitation in Mace¬ 
donia, was advised by an oracle to take the goats for 
his guides ; and afterwards, seeing a herd of goats 
iftyingirom a violent storm, lie followed them to Ede$y 

U* 


I 


234 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

sa, and there fixed the seat of his empire, and made the 
goats his ensign or standard, and called the place 
iEge, the goat’s town, and the people iEgeadae, the 
goat’s people. The city iEge, or iEgea, was the usual 
burying place of the Macedonian kings ; and in refe¬ 
rence to this origin, Alexander called his son by Rox¬ 
ana, Alexander iEgus, (or, as it is in English, Alexan¬ 
der the Goat.) All of which goes to establish the pro- 
priety of Alexander’s being in Scripture called, in re¬ 
ference to this origin, a he-goat. This he-goat came 
with his forces from the west of Asia. Europe 
lies west of that quarter of the globe, and by the time 
Alexander was thirty years of age, he had conquered all 
Asia ; and because of the rapidity of his conquests, he 
is represented as a leopard with four wings, in the pre¬ 
ceding vision. This he-goat, it is said by Daniel, came 
to the ram that had two horns , which I had seen stand¬ 
ing before the river , and ran unto him in the fury of his 
power. Chap. 8, 6. The conllicts between the Greeks 
and the Persians were excessively severe. Alexander 
first vanquished the generals of Darius at the river 
Granicus, in Phrygia ; he next attacked and totally 
routed Darius at the straits of Issus, in Silicia ; and af¬ 
terwards at the plains of Arbela, in Assyria. “ One 
can hardly read these words,” says Bishop Newton, 
u the ram—which 1 had seen standing by the river — 
ran unto him in the fury of his power, without having 
the image of Darius’s army standing and guarding the 
river Granicus ; and of Alexander on the other side, 
with bis forces plunging in, swimming across the 
stream, and rushing on the enemy, with all the fire and 


/ 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


235 


hut that can be conceived.” He broke the two horns 
of the ram when he had subdued Persia and Media, 
and had burnt the royal city of Persepolis, the capital 
of the Persian empire ; and, even in its ruins, one of the 
wonders ol the world to the present da} 7 . Alexander’s 
victories over the Persians were as easy as they were 
rapid and decisive. lie cast down (the ram) to the 
ground, and stamped on him , totally destroyed the fam¬ 
ily, and overturned the whole monarchy. But this he- 
goat, when he had conquered nearly the then known 
world, died B. C. 323, in the height of his conquests, 
at the age of about thirty-three years. After his death, 
his natural brother, Philip Aridaeus, and his two sons, 
Alexander iEgus and Hercules, kept up the show and 
name of the Macedonian kingdom for a time, but they 
were all murdered within fifteen years after the death 
of Alexander ; and thus the great horn, the Macedo¬ 
nian kingdom, was broken, the whole family being now 
cut oft. But as soon as this was accomplished, the re¬ 
gions subdued by Alexander were divided among four 
of his generals, as before stated in this division. These 
four generals, who had become governors of provinces, 
during the fifteen years in which Alexander’s brothers 
and two sons held the rule, were the four notable horns 
which came up after Alexander, the great Macedonian 
horn was broken. But “outof one of them came a 
little horn which waxed exceeding great toward the 
south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant 
land. And it waxed great even to the host of heaven, 
•and it cast down some of the host, and of the stars, to 
*the ground, and stamped upon them, which was the; 


236 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 

Jewish priesthood. And by him the daily sacrifice 
was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was 
cast down. And a host was given him against the 
daily sacrifice, by reason of transgressions, and it cast 
down the truth to the ground, and it practiced and 
prospered*” See Dan. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. 

Now' when Daniel saw in the vision the havoc and 
desolation this little horn would make at Jerusalem, by 
destroying the Jews and profaning the temple, by put¬ 
ting the abominations of the heathen in the most holy 
place, then 1 heard , said Daniel, one saint speaking to 
another saint , (or, as Dr. Clark says, one angel speak¬ 
ing to another angel) how long shall be the vision coj j- 
cerning the daily sacrifice , and the transgression of de¬ 
solation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be 
trodden under foot ? To which an answer w r as imme¬ 
diately given, saying, Unto two thousand three hundred 
days ; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. 

Now arises the question to be answered : Who is 
this little horn, and when are we to commence the num¬ 
bering of those 2300 days or years, as they are by all 
allow ed to mean ; so that we may know wdien the 
sanctuary, i. e. the church of God, to which Daniel 
must have referred, as well as to the sacred altar at Je¬ 
rusalem, evidently connecting them in his view of de¬ 
solations, shall be cleansed. For he very well knew, 
as a prophet, that the sanctuary at Jerusalem was to 
give place to the greater one to be set up by the Mes¬ 
siah ; therefore, in his propecying respecting when the 
sanctuary is to be cleansed, he has adverted from the 
Conner to the latter, and foretold when, or, in other 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


237 


words, when the Millennium is to commence. Some 
have strenuously contended, that this little horn signi¬ 
fies the Romans as a nation ; but this cannot be, be¬ 
cause Daniel saw this horn arise at a period future to 
the time when he saw the vision, which was while he 
was at Babylon, a captive, B. C. 550 years. But the 
Humans had'their commencement long before Daniel 
was born, as early as the year B. C. 753 ; consequent¬ 
ly, it is morally impossible to allow this horn to be the 
Roman government. The vision put the whole tra¬ 
gedy in the ages to come from the time of the vision. 
Those who have supposed that this little horn signifies 
the Roman government, have accordingly supposed 
that Daniel’s view of what w'as done to the sanctuary 
and temple by way of polluting it, by setting up the 
abomination which maketh desolate, was accomplish¬ 
ed by the Romans under Titus, when it was totally de¬ 
stroyed by that emperor, A. D. 70. But it should be 
recollected, that nothing is more unlikely than that 
God w ould put it into the heart of Daniel to mourn for 
the desolation of the temple, after it was of no further 
use to his cause and church in the earth, when Christ 
had once suffered, and the temple thereby rendered 
useless as a place to exhibit types of a coming Messiah, 
which was the only design had in view in building it at 
first. 

But Daniel certainly foretold the destruction of Je¬ 
rusalem in the ninth and eleventh chapters of his book, 
and speaks of the Romans as being the abomination 
of desolation standing in the holy place. See Matth. 
24, 15 ; but by no means conveying the idea, that the 


238 EXTECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

Homans, at that time and place, was the little horn : 
because we find, after Daniel had finished his account 
t)f the exploits of the little horn, he states concerning 
him in chap. 11,31, that arms should stand on his 
part, i. e. the Romans, of whom the little horn had been 
always in awe, and had paid taxes to them, and became 
finally supplanted by them ; but as the Romans pur¬ 
sued the same policy and severity towards the Jews 
that the little horn had, it is said, in reference to this 
point, by Daniel, that arms stood on bis part. The 
standing of the Roman arms on the part of the little 
horn, did not aid any of his views of glory and ambi¬ 
tion relative to himself, but only accomplished his ha¬ 
tred, though after his death, against the Jews, by finally 
destroying them and their whole nation by Titus, A. 
D. 70. But he, (the little horn) came finally to his 
•end, there being none to help him. This was accom¬ 
plished upon him when he planted the power of his 
anus in the land of Judea, to destroy it; but his ar¬ 
mies were then defeated by the Jews, under the conduct 
of Maccabeus. See Daniel 11, 45. And he shall plant 
the tabernacle of his palaces between the seas (of the 
Mediterranean and Asphaltides, north lat. 31 1-2 east, 
Jong. 35 from Loud.) in the glorious holy mountain, 
(Jerusalem) yet be shall come to his end, and none shall 
help him. 

I feel, therefore, assured, that the period of the ruin 
of the temple after Christ is not the period to which 
Daniel alludes, when he in vision described what the 
little horn would do before he should come to his end. 
.Nor yet that it was the Romans who represented this 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 23 & 

little horn, because they arose 453 years sooner than 
the acts prophecied of the little horn took place. But 
if we say ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES is the terri¬ 
ble king, or horn, he saw arise, then we find in him a 
character which at once realizes ali the acts foreseen of 
. him in the eighth chapter of Daniel. The time also 
that he arose to power, (which was 250 years after the 
prophecy) will agree with the time set to cleanse the 
sanctuary, which was from his rising up, till it should 
be cleansed, 2300 years. For it appears from the ac¬ 
count the writer of the book of Maccabees has given 
of him, that he existed, and did all the things foretold 
of him by Daniel, about the year B. C. 300. A more 
particular account of what he did than is stated by Da¬ 
niel, I now proceed to extract from the first book of 
Maccabees, which is allowed, for its historical correct¬ 
ness, to be of great worth, and is found to agree with 
Daniel, respecting out of w hom this horn should arise. 
Daniel states that he arose out of one of the four horns 
who succeeded Alexander. These were his generals; 
and the countries they ruled over have been already 
mentioned. 

It appears from Maccabees, chap. 1, 7, that Alexan¬ 
der reigned twelve years, and then died ; consequently 
, he succeeded his father Philip at the age of twenty- 
one, for he was thirty-three years old when he died, 
B. C. 323. After his death, his brother and two sons, 
as before stated, kept up the appearance of the Mace¬ 
donian empire for 15 years, which brings the date of 
their murder, and the assumption of government by 
Alexander’s generals, over the nations conquered by 


240 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


him, to the year B. C. 308. Now out of one of these 
four horns which sprung up after the death of Alexan¬ 
der, arose Antiochus Epiphanes , who, it is supposed, 
supplanted Cassander, one of the four generals of Al¬ 
exander, who had for his part of the conquests of his 
royal master, Macedon and Greece. Antiochus Epi- 
phanes is the one, therefore, who, according to Daniel, 
arose at that time. See chap. 8, verse 9. And out of 
one of them , (the four generals of Alexander) came 
forth a little horn , which waxed exceeding great. This 
is the one also described in the first chapter of Macca¬ 
bees. See Apocrypha. “ And there came out of them 
a wicked root, Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes. Now 
when the kingdom was established before Antiochus, 
he thought to reign over Egypt, that he might have 
dominion of two realms. Wherefore he entered into 
Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots, and ele¬ 
phants, and horsemen, and a great navy. Ptolemy was 
afraid of him, and fled. Thus they got the strong ci¬ 
ties in the land of Egypt, and he took the spoils there¬ 
of.” That this same Antiochus Epiphanes, spoken of 
in the Apocrypha, in the first book of Maccabees and 
first chapter, was the little horn prophecied of by Daniel, 
we have the comment of Adam Clark upon chap. 11, 
verse 25, of that prophecy, as corroborative proof. See 
the verse. And he shall stir up his power and his cour - 
age against the king of the south with a great army. 
“ Antiochus marched against Ptolemy, the king of the 
south (Egypt) with a great army ; and the Egyptian 
generals had raised mighty forces. The two armies 
met between Pelusium and Mount Casius; but he (the 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 241 

king of the south) could not- stand \ the Egyptian ar¬ 
my was defeated.’’ 

And further, as corroborative proof that this Anti* 
ochus who then invaded Egypt, was Antiochus Epi¬ 
phanes, the horn alluded to by Daniel, I shall give Dr. 
Clark’s remarks on verse 21', of the 11th chap. And 
in his estate (i» e. a former king—Cassander probably) 
shall stand up a vile person , to whom they shall not 
give the honour of the kingdom ; but he shall come in 
peaceably , and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. This 
was Antiochus, surnamed Epiphanes, or the Illustrious, 
by the Syrian court. “ They did not give him the 
honour of the kingdom,. He was at Athens, on his 
way to Rome, when his predecessor died, and Heliodo- 
rus had declared himself king; so had several others 
But Antiochus came in peaceably, for he obtained the 
kingdom by flatteries. He flattered Eumenes, king of 
Pergamus, and Attains his brother, and got their assis¬ 
tance. He flattered the Romans, and sent ambassa- 
• dors to court their favour, and pay them tbe arrears of 
tribute. He flattered the Syrians, and gained their 
concurrence ; and as he flattered the Syrians, so they 
flattered him, giving him the epithet of Epiphanes, the 
Illustrious. But that he was what the prophet calls 
him, a vile person, is fully evident, from what Polybius 
says of him, from Athenacds , lib. v. u He was every 
man’s companion : he resorted to the common shops, 
and prattled with the workmen : he frequented the 
common taverns, and ate and drank with the meanest 
fellows, singing debauched songs,” &c. From which 
it is evident, this person is the same to whom both Da- 

W 


242 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM 


niel and the Apocrypha alludes. By the one he is cal¬ 
led Antiochus Epiphancs, plainly^; and by the other, a 
vile person , who, by Clark, is said to be the same ; 
and, I add, is the little horn foreseen of Daniel. 

But I resume the account given of him in Macca¬ 
bees. See Apocrypha. “ And after that Antiochus 
had smitten Egypt, he returned and went up against 
Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude; and en¬ 
tered proudly into the sanctuary, and took away the 
golden altar, and all the vessels thereof. He took also 
the silver and the gold, and the precious vessels : also 
he took the hidden treasures which he found. And 
when he had taken all awav, he went unto his own 
land, having made a great massacre, and spoke very 
proudly.” But two years after, it appears that Antio¬ 
chus returned again to. Jerusalem, and burnt down a 
part of the city, carried many captives away, and pos¬ 
sessed their cattle. / And at the same time he built a 
strong wall round the city of David, with immense 
towers on it, and thereby made it a strong hold for 
himself. “ And put therein a sinful nation, and forti¬ 
fied themselves therein.” It appears that from this 
fort which they built, that they harassed and afflicted 
the people, who daily came to the temple to sacrifice. 
“ Th us they shed innocent blood on every side of the 
sanctuary, and defiled it.” At that time Antiochus 
wrote letters to his whole kingdom, that in their wor¬ 
ship they should be one people, and also to the Jews, 
many of whom consented to the worship of idols. “ He 
*et up groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrificed 
swine’s flesh and unclean beasts.” He also set up an 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 24$ 

idol upon the very altar of God in the temple, and sa¬ 
crificed to the idol there, and sprinkled the whole tem¬ 
ple and altar with the broth of swine’s flesh. See 
Clark on Daniel, chap. 11, 28. 

From what I have advanced, it appears evident (at 
least to me) that the horn which arose nearest to Da¬ 
niel's time, B. C. 550, was Antiochus JEpiphanes, who 
commenced his reign about the year B. C. 300 ; but 
soon after his end, the kingdom was lost in that of the 
Romans, who commenced their national existence B. 
C. 758, but at that time had become exceeding power¬ 
ful. If, therefore, the prophet alluded to the time of 
Antiochus, who horribly polluted the Jewish sanctuary, 
we see clearly that the time to cleanse it, i. e. the 
Christian sanctuary, of which that at Jerusalem was 
the type, will be at the end of 2300 natural years, and 
will be completed at the end of the next century, in 
the year A. D. 2000. At that time also will be finish¬ 
ed the 1260 years of the captive state of the Christian 
polluted sanctuary, who went into captivity about the 
year A. D. 740. At that period will the woman, who 
is the Christian church, now under the power of the 
beast, come forth from her hiding place, where she 
has been, is now, and will continue to be fed and pre¬ 
served, till the end of 1260 years, from the face of the 
serpent, which is the old heathen worship of idols, from 
which she was rescued by the conversion of Constan¬ 
tine, and preserved in the wilderness state of the Ro¬ 
man Catholic church from heathen idolatry, though 
.nothing more, since that time, than nominally Chris- 


244 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM- 


tian, which, however, preserves her from the more 
horrid face of the serpent, paganism . 

At that time shall end the prophecyirig of the two 
witnesses. See Rev. 11, 3. And 1 will give power to 
my two witnesses , and they shall prophecy a thousand 
two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sack¬ 
cloth. During which time the Gentiles are to tread un¬ 
der foot the holy city, i. e. the whole eommunity of 
saints in those Catholic countries, who would gladly 
embrace the opportunity of listening to the voice of 
those witnesses, if they were not now shrouded in the 
smoke of the bottomless pit. But at the -end of the 
forty-two months, at the end of the three days and a 
half, at the end of the twelve hundred and sixty years, 
at the end of a thousand two hundred and three score 
days, at the end of a time, times and a half time, at the 
end of Daniel’s two thousand three hundred days—* 
shall the smoke of the bottomless pit be blown quite 
from the mental region of man’s mind in all the 
globe, in the last year of the next century. 

But long before that .period, the gospel will have 
been received among all heathen nations. 

Having now presented my reasons for believing the 
Millennium will commence at the end of six thousand 
years from the beginning of creation, I will sum them 
up in brief, and then pass to some remarks on the king¬ 
dom of the mountain, then close this division with a 
few reflections. My reasons for expecting it at that 
period, have consisted, 1st, in showing the sanctity and 
propriety of a Millennium. 2d. By exhibiting proofs 
■that the ancient Jew s, Rabbins, and prophets, as well 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


245 


»S the Christian churches in rill ages have expected it. 
^d. By a compared view of the various kinds Sab- 
baths, which I have shown ac typifying a Millennium 
at a certain period. 4. By ascertaining the rise and 
tall of the papal horn. 5. By showing when and who 
it was that polluted the Jewish sanctuary, and when 
the time to Cleanse it shall come, i. e. the Christian 
sanctuary, as I suppose the prophet meant, else he 
would not have set the time so distant as 2300 years. 
6. That the four grand dispensations from Abraham, 
consisting of a thousand years each, shall also end with 
the next century ; exactly corroborating their sublime 
symbol, which was a river, -shown to Ezekiel by an 
angel, consisting of four equal measurements of a 
thousand cubits each,‘which is descriptive of the in¬ 
crease of a knowledge of God in his church in the 
earth, since the birth of Abraham till the Millennium. 
77. By showing that at the end of the next century, the 
rnoted 1260 years, in which the saints were given into 
ahe power of the secular Roman church, shall end ; 
and 8. That then the two witnesses shall finish their 
prophecying in sackcloth, and be caught up to heaveudn 
the midst of a Cloud. These are my reasons for believ¬ 
ing the Millennium will commence at that period. There 
1 see a termination >of all those grand symbols upon 
which the expectation has been built, by both the an¬ 
cient and modern church. But I will here remark, 
that the exaltation of the two witnesses, the^Old and 
the New Testament, to heaven, rnay be understood to 
-signify, that as the Holy Scriptures,'the grand medium 
through which God has conversed with man, have beefe 

W* 


246 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


despised, ridiculed and rejected by a majority of the 
nations, so they shall finally come to be bad in univer¬ 
sal honour, and their precepts to be the Alpha and 
Omega of all the nations of the earth during a thou¬ 
sand years, even on the earth where they have been de¬ 


spised. This glory which shall be bestowed upon 
them, their enemies shall see ; but in that same hour, 
when thus exalted, there shall be a great earthquake ; 
terrible commotions among men ; the wficked falling* 
by the supernatural power which shall then destroy 
them-. And the seventh angel sounded; (for six had 
preceded him) and there were great voices in heaven , 
saying, The Jcingdoms of this world are become the 
kingdoms Of our Lord, and his Christ ; and he shall 
reign for ever and ever, 

And as if to confirm the faith of the saints, that the 
vision" shall end, and the saints take the kingdom at the 
termination of 1260 years, from the precise time the 
Christian sanctuary was absolutely and totally polluted 
by the papists, and the abomination set up, (i. e. the 
Popes, as idols) which maketh desolate, of whom An- 
doclius Epiphanes, and his pollutions of the Jewish 
sanctuary, was a lively type. It is asked, TIow long 
shall it be to the end of these wonders ? See Dam 
chap. 12, 6. The reply was, that it shall be for a 
time , times , and a half time ; and when he shall have 
accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people , 
all these things shall be finished. 

Thus I understand it: the time allowed to this deso¬ 
lating monster, this abominable idol, which has made 
desolate the saints,-is X260 years, in which time he 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 247 

< v— 

shall have fully accomplished-to scatter the power of the 
holy people, the children of God in his dominions, 
who receive not the mark of this beast in their fore** 
heads, or their hands. The end, or last years of the 
next century, shall finish the visions of Daniel and St. 
John, in reference to the kingdom of the stone, and 
close the grand drama of sufferings with the saints; 
and shall usher in, like the breaking forth of the wa¬ 
ters of Paradise in the first Eden, the undescribed glo¬ 
ries of the Millennial state, and kingdom of the moun¬ 
tain, which is Christ in his second coming, filling the 
whole earth. 

REFLECTIONS. 


And arc we, indeed, so near the time which has been 
?ihe subject of hope and prophecy in all ages, of both 
the Jewish and Christian churches ; so near that period 
when the depravity of the heart shall be no more, when 
the effects of sin shall cease, and its injuries be repair¬ 
ed by the spirit of the Lord of Host in all the eartlg 
both of natural and moral evil? Are we indeed, so 
near that time, when the holy dead shall rise at the 
sound of the voice of the archangel in all the earth ? 
So near that time, when the sweet fellowship that exis¬ 
ted in Eden between man and the angels of God, shall 
be renewed; the lost image of perfect holiness be re¬ 
stored ? Yes, O my soul! the time is near. Blessed 
be God, w ho so loved the world as to give his only Son 
if or a ransom, upon whom, as a foundation, is built, no? 
enly ihe expectation of the joys of the Millennial state*, 


£48 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

> f • 3 J ' 

but when that shall end, the more triumphant bliss of 
an eternal weight of glory in the heavens. With these 
views let us be comforted, and possess our souls in pa- 
"tience, for behold ithasteneth. Soon the rush of years 
will unfold to the astonished sight the joys that have 
been bought with a Saviour’s blood. The lives ot 
three persons in succession, from the present year, 
1827, of sixty years of age, are more than sufficient to 
reach the promised land ; the third, if holy, will 
plunge in that sea of joy, will be one of those who 
-shall feel the mighty change from mortal to immortali¬ 
ty, such as the sinless pair possessed before their fall, 
and shall become a recipient of the immunities of the 
Millennial state. 

Having passed through the various periods which 
•relate to the cleansing of the sanctuary on the earth, 
though commencing at different eras, but all manifestly 
ending at one and the same time, viz. at the end of the 
next century, or in the year of our Lord 2000, I will 
just observe that Daniel the prophet has spoken of an 
additional number of years, which seem to reach be¬ 
yond the completion of the time, times and a halftime, 
or the 1260 years allotted for the cleansing of the 
sanctuary. See Dan. 12, 11, 12. This addition 
consists of seventy-five years, and evidently extends 
into the Millennial state, and relates to some events in¬ 
volved in the blessedness of that time, which it seems 
was not God’s good pleasure so clearly to reveal to Da¬ 
niel. But it is added, verse 12, Mlcssed is he that 
nvaiteth , and cometh to the thousand three hundred and 
and thirty days. But here conjecture is lost, .for 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLEXNTITM. 240 

I consider the signification covered in obscurity, be¬ 
cause those seventy-five days reach beyond the period 
of cleansing the sanctuary, which will be effected by 
the binding of Satan, by the destruction of all sinners, 
by the removal of all natural ? and moral evil, by the 
exaltation of the two witnesses, the Old and New Tes¬ 
tament, up to the heaven of universal acceptance in all 
the earth; by the junction of Ezekiel’s river Of life 
with the ocean, the Millennium ; by the resurrection of 
all the righteous dead, and by the restoration of every 
privilege man would have had if he had not sixmed* 
when he was tempted in Eden’s paradise. 



#• 



EIGHTH DIVISION. 


An account of the first resurrection, and the subsequent happi¬ 
ness of all people ; with which is connected arguments to 
prove, that all natural and moral evil shall cease a thousand 
years ; and that it was the intention of the Creator to have 
clothed Adam and Eve, and their posterity, whether they should 
-stand or fall. 

-*»*@<j|«*«** 


Then shall all sacred dust, whose souls had faith, 
Be rescu’d from the power of conquering death, 
And instant upward fly, with speed of light, 

Far from the changing climes of day and night. 
Then they, the saints on earth who yet remain, 
A thousand years will wait the trump again ;— 
This lapse of years shall know no tempting devil. 
Nor natural ills, nor power of moral evil. 


This great and glorious event is intimately con¬ 
nected with the Millennium, inasmuch as it is the very 
beginning of that day; for it is written by St. John* 
that the rest of the dead live not again until the thou¬ 
sand years are finished. This is the first resurrection . 
Rev. 20, 5. From this it is evident, that there shall 
absolutely be one thousand years between the iirst re- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 25$ 

t 

surrection and the second. This is the reason why £ 
conclude that the resurrection of the righteous must 
take place the very moment of the comvnencement of 
the Millennium, in order that a thousand years may 
have exactly time enough to transpire before the resur¬ 
rection of the wicked shall take place. And to ascer¬ 
tain this as a fact, we have only to recollect the above 
quoted remarkable words of St. John upon the sub* 
ject. But the rest of the (had live not again until the 
thousand years arefinished. 

The Evangelist, in order that the churches should 
clearly understand him to say, that literally there 
should be a lapse of a thousand years between the two 
resurrections, and that it shall be the righteous who are 
! thus to be favoured with the first, he has said, Blessed 
\ and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection , 
' on such the second death hath no poiver. Rev. 20, 6 ; 
which strongly intimates a second resurrection, and 
that they who shall compose it, shall be hurt of the 
second death ; and it is added, And death and hell were 
cast into the lake of fire . This is the second death . 

Rev. 20, 14. And to prove that the wicked dead 
shall be cast into this lake of fire, which is the second 
death, we adduce these words : And whosoever was not 
found written in the book ofi life , was cast into the 
lake of fire . Rev. 20, 15. And to show that their 
stay in this lake is eternal, we have only to let the Re- 
velator decide, who says, And the devil that deceived 
them wvs cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where 
the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormen¬ 
ted day and night for ever and ever . Rev. 20, IB. 


"252 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUMS 

But that the righteous dead shall arise before tlicr 
wicked dead, is> confirmed by St. Paul, who says, 
“ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with 
a shout? with the voice of the archangel, and with the 
trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” 
Thet. 4, 16. But the distance of time between the 
two resurrections is not mentioned by St. Paul ; yet 
in Thes- 4 r 17., he very plainly intimates,, that there 
will be a lapse of time between, the two resurrections, 
when he says, Then- we which are alive and remain ,. 
Thus I understand him to mean : that when the righ¬ 
teous dead awake at the sound of the arehangel’s 
voice,, that they will immediately ascend out of sight to 
heaven y. but they who are alive and on the earth at 
that time, shall remain till after tho Millennium, or the 
thousand years are accomplished, and then shall be 
caught up at the sound of the last trump, to be toge¬ 
ther with tliem. who ascend before and shall meet the 
Lord in the air, ami so shall we be ever with the Lord. 
But if we blend the resurrection of saint and sinner 
together, then we make,, between St.. Paul and St. 
John, an unaccountable disagreement on the subject; 
for while one plainly puts a thousand years between, 
the other seems to blend them together. 

It will no doubt be allowed, that these two apostle^ 
wrote by the same spirit of inspiration, and that they 
equally understood the process of the resurrection. 
And although St. Paul never read the book of Revela¬ 
tion, because it was not written till after the death of that 
apostle, who was slain with a sword at the command of 
]N ero, the tyrant, in the year 65; but St. John lived to the 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 253 

great age of ninety-eight years, and wrote the book of 
Revelation while an exile on the isle of Patmos, in 
the Archipelago,—(this island is situate between 35 
and 40 deg. north lat. and 25 east long.)—under the 
horrid reign of Domitian, but was called from his ex¬ 
ile by Nerva, successor of Domitian, and again fixed 
his seat at Ephesus. His book of Revelation, we are 
informed, he wrote near the close of Domitian’s reign, 
which was long after the death of Nero and St. Paul, 
and published in the year ninety-six, at which time it 
was also dated. See Clark. Yet St. Paul must have 
had the same view of the resurrection with St. John. 

The following, [ think, is a consistent view of the 
subject concerning the two resurrections : That al¬ 
though there shall be many saints alive on the earth, 
at the lime when the period for the resurrection of the 
just shall arrive, } r et that circumstance shall not pre¬ 
vent their rising. This appears to be the sense of the 
15th verse of the 1st Thes. chap. 4. For this we say 
unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are 
alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall 
not prevent them which are asleep ; i. e. those who are 
asleep in Jesus ; for this is determined in -the next 
verse : For the Lord himself shall descend from hea¬ 
ven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and 
with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall 
rise first —but no intimation that the sinner shall rise 
with them, nor immediately after. 

If this very idea were not a question among the 
saints at Thessalonica, whether the wicked and the 
righteous should rise together at the same time, it 

X 


26 4 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

would seem the apostle might not have been so explicit 
to tell them that the dead in Christ should rise first- 
But if the difference between the resurrection of the 
saint and sinner shall be but as a moment, as it were, 
or even the space of a day, or ajmonth, it would seem 
such a circumstance could not be a matter of much so¬ 
licitude to be known. But if we believe there shall 
transpire a thousand years between, then the thought 
swells to a vast consequence to be known of the 
churches, as one of those great events connected with 
■the glory of the Messiah’s kingdom on the earth. 

In the last line of the 26th verse of the 4th of Thes. 
the fact is stated that the dead in Christ shall rise first; 
then immediately it is added in the first line of the fol¬ 
lowing verse, Then we which are alive and REMAIN. 
Why should this idea of remaining be introduced at 
all, if those who then are alive shall ascend instantly 
w ith those who rise then from the dead ? 

But here arises another argument. What meanetli 
St. Paul, 1 Cor. 15, 52, by his mention of the last 
trump. 51. Behold 1 show r you a mystery : we shall 
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, 
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. In his! 
conversation upon this subject with the Thessalonians, 
chap. 4, 16, there is no mention of the sounding of a 
last trump ; but the statement is simply, that at the 
sound of the archangel’s voice, and the trump of God, 
the dead in Christ shall rise first. But to the Corin¬ 
thians he taught, 15, 52, there should be a last trump 
which must sound ; at which time, they w ho were not 
dead or asleep should be changed in the twinkling of 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 255 

* 

TiTi eye. But here it is not mentioned, that this change 
shall be effected when the dead in Christ shall rise, but 
when the last trump shall sound. It is plain, there¬ 
fore, that the last trump will not sound at the first resur¬ 
rection, but will delay its sounding till the last resur¬ 
rection, or resurrection of the wicked dead ; at which 
time the saints who are then on the earth, shall be 
changed at the sound of the last trump. But if we 
blend the first sound of the trump with the second, and 
blend the first resurrection with the second, there will 
remain a palpable darkness upon the face of this most 
interesting subject, the resurrection of the saint and 
sinner. 

We are informed by St. Paul to the Corinthians, 
chap. 15, 26, that The last enemy that shall be destroy¬ 
ed is death . This is corroborated by St. John, Rev. 
20, 14. And death and hell were cast into the lake Of 
fire. This is the second death . 

In reference to the above verses, I ask the serious 
reader, if there ever has yet been a time when Satan, 
who has the power of death, has at all been bereft of 
his power to tempt the nations to sin? The answer 
must be, No. Then there must come a time when this 
will be fulfilled. To this, testifies St. John, Rev. 20, 
2. And he (the angel) laid hold on the dragon , that 
old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan , arid bound 
him a thousand years. When shall this be done ? At 
the time of the first resurrection, most certainly. Is this 
the time when the last enemy is to be destroyed ? As 
it relates to the saints, it is ; but as it relates to the 
.earth, and to certain apostates after the Millennium, it 


256 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

•is not; because after the above mentioned bondage, be 
must be loosed again a little season. It follows, then, 
that the end of all things cannot come at the time of 
the first resurrection, as many have supposed. The 
time to destroy the last enemy is not till the final judg¬ 
ment ; when death, that is, Satan, who has the power 
of death, shall be cast into the lake of fire. This is 
his death , and is called the second death. 

If we sav bis destruction must come at the same time 
with the first resurrection, then, indeed, we prevent 
forever that happy period of his being bound a thou¬ 
sand years, in reference to the earth, and also contra¬ 
dict the Holy Scriptures, which say it shall be so. But 
1 feel constrained to pursue the argument a little far¬ 
ther, and to trace the process of the resurrection, as 
described by St. Paul to the Corinthians, in another 
particular. 

The ol der of the resurrection is, first, Christ himself 
came up from the dead. Second, those that are his at 
his coming. See 1 Cor. 15, 23. Bat every man in 
his own order . Christ the first fruits ; afterwards 
they that arc Christ's at his coming . Now if it be suppo¬ 
sed, that when they that are Christ’s shall come forth 
from the dead, that then all the wicked dead shall also 
rise, it would evidently attach more to be accomplished 
by the fulfilment of that verse, than is promised by it, 
or implied in it ; for the promise is, they that arc 
Christ's at his coming , and no other are implied. If, 
then, at his coming, the righteous only are to be raised 
from the dead, which will be the fact; and if this first 
resurrection is also the end of time, or the judgment 


) 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


257 


day, then it must follow, that they who are not the dead 
in Christ, will not have any resurrection at all ; for we 
have no account of any resurrection after the judg¬ 
ment day. But the unholy dead must rise aIso„ This 
is declared by Christ the Lord. See John, 5, 26, 29. 
Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming , in the which 
all that are in the graves shall hear his voice . And 
shall come forth ; they that have done good , unto the 
resurrection of life , and they that have done evil , unto 
the resurrection of damnation . Here, then, is the re¬ 
surrection of both kinds. 

But the apostle’s account proceeds to inform us, that 
when Christ has put down all rule, all authority and 
.power, that then he shall deliver the kingdom to God, 
even the Father. See 1 Cor. 15, 24. Then comcik 
the end , when he shall have delivered up the kingdom , 
to God , even the Father , when he shall have put doivn 
dll rule , and all authority and power. This rule, this 
authority, and this power alluded to, is the dominion of 
Satan in the earth, with all his strong holds, which 
shall be put down ; which fact is also witnessed to by 
the Revelator when he said, first, Satan shall be bound 
a thousand years ; and second, when he said, lie shall 
be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, which is 
the second death: At which times, those infernal pow¬ 
ers shall unloose their grasp of time and things. Then 
cometh the end when this is done, and not till then ; 

• which things may not be expected at the time of the first 
resurrection, but at the time of the sound of the las! 
itrump, when death, which is the last enemy, shall -be 
destroyed, 

X* 


258 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

And further : As decisive proof that the unholy dead 
are not to rise when the righteous do, I notice St. 
John’s particular account, which distinguishes their re¬ 
surrection from that of the righteous, in point of peri¬ 
od when it shall be accomplished. His first description 
is contained in Rev. 20, 4. 5. ** And I saw thrones, 

and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given 

unto them : and I saw the souls of them that were be- 

# 

headed for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of 
God, and had not worshipped the beast, neither his 
image, neither had received his mark upon their 
foreheads, or in their hands ; and they lived and reign¬ 
ed with Christ a thousand vears. Rut the rest of the 

%/ 

dead lived not again until the thousand }ears were fin¬ 
ished—this is the first resurrection.” But his second 
description is contained, Rev. 20, 13. “ And the sea 

gave up the dead which were in it : Death and hell, 
[that is, the grave, and hades , the place where are con¬ 
fined the souls of the wicked dead] delivered up the 
dead which were in them, and they were judged every 
man according to their works.” 

The first description states those who shall rise first, 

, shall reign with Christ, and consequently their names 
were written in the Lamb’s book of life; but the se¬ 
cond description states, Whosoever was not found 
written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of 
fire. And concerning these last, it is said in verse 5. x 
that they should not live again till a thousand years 
were finished. This is the proof, beyond all contra¬ 
diction, that there will be, between the two resurree- 
one thousand jears. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


259 


At the time of the first resurrection, therefore, will 
be the moment when the morning of the seventh Mil- 
lenniary shall begin to shine from the chambers of its 
glory, and shall be ushered in by the archangel’s 
voice, and the trump of God. Instantly all eyes, all 
ears, shall be sweetly arrested ; for such will be the 
manner of heaven’s approach, that every nation and 
every individual on the globe will see his glory at once : 
as if two suns should approach our earth at two oppo¬ 
site points, the whole would be irradiated with an 
ocean of circumambient light—so the Son of Man, 
with his hosts of mighty angels, in great glory shall 
come in the clouds of heaven. The trump shall sound 

4 

with the archangel’s voice ; they shall sound, and roll 
their charming notes all round the globe, like.deep and 
jarring thunder ; but in it the blest sound, a still small 
voice shall cry, and pierce the deep, Ye dead, arise I 
my sons, arise ! come forth, not to judgment, but to 
life eternal. 

Then shall the prayer of the militant church, which 
she hath prayed several thousand years, crying, How 
Ion"’, O Lord, ere thou shalt take the kingdom and 
possess it for ever ? be answered ; for lo ! he cometh 
with clouds, with hosts, with millions of spirits made 
perfect, and flaming ministers in his train, to begin the 
long predicted reign of righteousness on earth, and in 
-spirit, and in power, be present with his spouse a thou¬ 
sand years, and to restore the place of her rest to its 
ancient splendour and security. Joys unknown before, 
then will roil a tide of bliss over the ravished souls of 
*di ms saints all round the giobe* At once from every 


260 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

clime, from every human tongue, a shout is heard to 
rise and float upon the viewless winds, saying, Alleluia 
to God in the highest: lo, yonder He comes ! it is Je¬ 
sus himself! I know it is He—the once buffeted God 
in the streets of the Jews ! 

But the archangel’s voice still pours the redundant 
sound ; the shrill and piercing cry descends the deep 
and hidden tomb, and deeper seas ; at once the up¬ 
heaving earth and stormy floods unfold their hidden 
guests ; immortal vigour sparkles in their eyes, and 
beauty’s blush crimsons their radiant faces ; robes of 
glittering white are brought by attendant angels, and, 
like the fleecy -drapery of the skies, enfold their per¬ 
sons fair ; round the waist a starry belt is girt, dipt in 
the colours of the rainbow ; their heads, which once 
were gushing fountains of many tears, are now adorn¬ 
ed with unfading crowns, that flash sweet beams of rud¬ 
dy light from every pearl; from underneath this glow¬ 
ing diadem and tiara bright, flow out the tresses fair of 
redundant locks, and come mantling down the grace¬ 
ful neck, as white as mountain lilies ; wings, such as 
angels have, fall graceful from the shoulder dow n, the 
place of strength, and shroud all the liniaments divine 
ill sparkling light. 

They hear, they see, they feel, that now they live 
again ; and, as Elijah, with his mantle in the en¬ 
trance of the mountain’s cave, hid his face, when 
the still small voice he heard so these, with glit¬ 
tering wings, veil each their face at sight of their Re¬ 
deemer, w hile deep within burns the musing fire, hut 
f ahours to jpour forth the angelic song; when lo ! ano- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 26! 

ther shout, like roaring seas, is heard, saying, Alleluia, 
the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 

Now from the silent places where they sleep, the 
noble army of the martyrs rise to everlasting joys. 
The ocean, with every gulf and stream, all battle 
grounds, where wars once raged, and every hidden 
place, yields up the righteous dead. 

Not far from the ancient site of Eden’s blissful 
groves, sweet orchards of the sun, arises from the long 
sleep of five thousand years, Adam, the great proge¬ 
nitor of man,, and his consort E\x, with Abel, their 
pious son, the first who fell by the javelin of the mon¬ 
ster Death. These, rising from the dead, shout Vic¬ 
tory, through the promised seed ! 

And from the mountains of Ararat, or from the 
plains of China, as tradition tells the patriarch lived, 
Noah shakes off the incumbent dust; and stands ar¬ 
rayed in white, in full view of the great ark of heaven, 
and mounts to enter there. 

But who is this that seems a prince, whose radiant 
face and crown of light, vies with the morning star, 
sweet harbinger of day ? Let Mamre’s plain and Mac- 
peJah’s sacred cave, declare it Abraham, from his late 
abode ; and with him stands the offered victim on Mo¬ 
riah’s hill, the lovely Isaac—a livety type of Zion’s 
king. And from the same sacred cave, Jacob, who, as a. 
prince, prevailed with God, and who strove with the 
angel from evening’s twilight until the daivn of morn¬ 
ing—these three, a triple fiame, burst from the tomb to 
meet the great Messiah in the air. 

There from the land of Uz, a patient Job awakes. 


'2G2 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


and cries, I know that my Redeemer lives ; and that 
although my skin the worms devoured, yet in my flesh, 
though divinely changed, I see rny God. Lo, all the 
hills and vales of Palestine now flash with light ; whole 
armies in white robes ascend, while all the nether hea¬ 
vens resound with songs and shouts of joy. 

There is a vale not far from Pisgah’s top, where Ga¬ 
briel hid the princely form of Moses. So secret was 
the place, that Satan’s hateful eye Could never find it. 
But now ’tis known ; for lo ! a seraph bursts from its 
bosom, and like a pyramid of light ascends the Lea¬ 
vens, from w hence he views, not only the once desired 
land of Abraham, from sea to sea, but heaven’s own 
coast, by far a better Canaan. 

Now all the prophets rise to life again, with all the 
priests of God’s well ordered house. Samuel, the 
three times called of God, ere the evening lamp went 
out, bursts bis clayey barrier. David, sweet Psalmist 
of Israel, from the royal tombs, leaps forth to life eter¬ 
nal. Daniel, the beloved of God. so Gabriel spoke, 
from where he sleeps on Babylon’s heathen plains, with 
Ills three companions, steps glorious into life. 

But lo ! what cherub host is this, the glory of whose 
radiant throng lights up a brighter ray upon the face 
of morning ? The smile of cradled infancy plays sweet 
upon their lips, and tempts the kiss of angels. The 
lustre of their eyes are innocently gay, as if they had 
but lately wept—the tear but half way fallen, or 
scarcely yet escaped, still lingering there upon the 
lovely cheek. \\ hat time the Saviour saw them from 
bis holy place, a band of angels bright commissioned 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 263 

flew, who on their plumy vans received them soft, and 
bore them to the skies. 

These were the first martyrs ; for Christ, the holy 
child, whom Herod slew in the weeping towns of Ra¬ 
ma, with base intent to kill the Prince of Life ; and 
millions of infants more throng the air from every 
clime, where human foot has trod, or infants died. Yes, 
the Nile, that river of blood, when once it was smitten 
with the rod of heaven, shall, from its murky flood 
and dragon shores, give up its infant dead whom Pha¬ 
raoh slew. ' 

Now heaven shouts from all its chrystal wails, from 
all its gates of pearl, and from its sea of glass and 
mingled fire. Now all the earth, from every coast, 
and from the ocean deep, where holy men are found, a 
cry of Glory be to God , is heard again. Now all the 
clouds of heaven are seized and changed to thrones, 
where unnumbered millions stand, and shout the ever¬ 
lasting song. But now the roar of Gabriel’s voice is 
heard no more. It is hushed, like the distant thunder 
softening its far off solemn sound in the unmeasured 
horizon beyond the seas, till the thousand years are 
passed by; when Zion’s king, with all the partnersot 
iiis cross, the ransomed with his blood, who yet remain 
on earth, shall then ascend in robes of white, witli 
crowns of life and palms of victory in their hands, 
with joy, with immortality and life. 

We will now return to those saints, who will be alive 
and on the earth at the sound of the first trump, who 
will not then ascend to heaven with those who are just 
arisen from the dead, but shall remain, as it is intimated 


264 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

by St. Paul to the Thessalonians, 4, 5, saying, Then 
ive which are alive and remain , shall be caught up to¬ 
gether —that is, when the thousand years are expired, 
as soon thereafter as God shall please, they shall be 
changed in the twinkling of an eye, and caught up to 
heaven at the sound of the last trump, to be together 
with those who are gone before. But, asks the reader, 
does not St. John plainly state, that they who have part 
in the first resurrection, shall not be hurt of the second 
death? They, therefore, who remain on the earth, ha¬ 
ving had no part in the first resurrection, must conse¬ 
quently be hurt of the second death. This does not 
follow ; for they shall never have part in any resurrec¬ 
tion, because they are never to die a temporal death, 
but at the last trump are to be changed, and caught 
up to God. Neither could they have part in the first 
resurrection, because they were not dead, but living, 
when that event transpired. These are the antetypes 
of Enoch and Elijah’s translation. But if those who 
had part in the first resurrection, are gone away into 
the invisible world, how then are they to reign with 
Christ on the earth a thousand years, and be priests of 
God, &e. as is stated by St. John, Rev. 20, 6, saying, 
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first re¬ 
surrection; on such the second death hath no power : but 
they shall be priests o f God and of Christ , and shall 
reign ivith him a thousand years . 

Let it be observed, that in this promise it is not said 
that they who rise first shall reign on the earth a thou¬ 
sand years, nor that they shall be priests of God and 
of Christ on the earth a thousand years. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


2G5 


Where, then, shall this reigning and priesthood take 
place, which is promised? In heaven unquestionably 
for it is no where stated in the Scriptures that Christ is 
to reign personally on the earth with his saints. But, 
the location of his throne and person must be in the in^ 
visible world, while his reigning or government ex¬ 
tends to all worlds and conditions of being, whether 
visible or invisible, natural or supernatural. 

The reigning, then, of those who first arise from the 
dead, as it relates to the thousand years in particular, is 
to be understood of their being present where Christ 
is in glory ; for he said himself to his disciples when 
on the earth, 1 will come again and receive you to my¬ 
self, that where I am there ye may be also . John 14, 
3. This, therefore, he will then accomplish by raising 
all his disciples who are dead, and taking them up to 
the mansions above, which he went to prepare when he 
ascended up on high. Here, then, they shall reign a 
thousand years with Christ in heaven, before they shal 
be joined by the church, who yet remain on the earth., 
and must remain a thousand years. Their reigning 
then with Christ a thousand years, is spoken only in 
reference to the other part of the same company, who 
must in due time also ascend. Then shail his bride bo 
said to be ready, for the whole church shall be present 
and shall enter into the marriage supper with the 
bridegroom, who is the Lamb of God, and the church 
is his wife, who will make herself ready. 

But as it relates to their being priests of God and e. 
Christ, this also shall be accomplished in the invisible 
world, as well as in the visible ; and the manner oi 

J 



/ 




£66 Expected Christian millennium. 

that priesthood will undoubtedly consist both of praise 
to God, and of service, in obedience to his commands. 
It is argued by Dr. Clark, that the saints on earth are 
reckoned a spiritual building, or temple, in which God 
rs worshipped, and in which he manifests himself as he 
did in the temple of old. And that every stone, son 
or daughter being a spiritual saerifker, or priest, is 
therefore the priesthood spoken of by the apostle Peter. 
1 Peter 2, 5, and by the Revelator, 5, 10. And hast 
made us unto our God Icings and priests ; and we shall 
reign on the earth . To which I add, that if the saints 
on eartli are reckoned the lively stones of tiiat spirit¬ 
ual building, in which each saint is a spiritual worship¬ 
per, or sacrificing priest, then indeed those who shall 
arise from the dead at the first resurrection, and ascend 
to glory, must be reckoned also as kings and priests, 
for they shall sit on thrones. See Rev. 20, 4. And 1 
saw thrones , and they that sat upon them , and they 
shall be crowned. See the second epistle of Paul to 
Timothy, chap. 2, 8. Henceforth there is laid up for 
me a crown of righteousness , which the Lord , the righ¬ 
teous Judge, shall give me at that day ; and not to me 
only , but unto all them that love his appearing. 

For God , who is able to make his angels spirits , and 
his ministers aflame of fire , (Heb. 17,) can give to 
these , who have come out of great tribulation , a priest¬ 
hood of service and praise , even in glory . We see 
that Moses and Elias had the blest employment of ap¬ 
pearing on the Mount when Christ was transfigured, 
who were seen of Peter, James and John. Of Daniel 
■it is also said by the angel who talked with him, who 




EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 267 

said, But go thou thy way till the end be , for thou 
■shaft rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days ♦ 
Dan. 12, 13; which seems to signify, that he should 
have an employment, for he should stand in his lot at 
the end of the days, which intimates a ministration or 
a priesthood, even for those who have passed in to the 
heavens. 

Some have supposed that it was the prophet Daniel 
who was called an angel, and was sent of Jesus Christ 
to signify to his servant John the things which must 
shortly come to pass ; but if it was not Daniel, it was 
assuredly one of he prophets, for this he declares ii. 
the most unequivocal manner to St. John ; when he 
w ould have fallen at his feet to worship the angel, he 
said, See thou do it not , for 1 am thy fellow servant , 
and of thy brethren the prophets , and of them which, 
keep the sayings of this book . Rev. 22, 9. If he 
was then a fellow servant with John, and claimed a 
kindred with the prophets, he was most undoubtedly 
the spirit of one of the prophets, who had fa’len asleep, 
and escaped to glory to possess a better and more exal- 
ted priesthood in the heavens. 

But if those who are alive at the time of the first 
resurrection, cannot be said to have part in that event, 
what wav shall they be benefitted by it? Their benefit 
will consist, first, in their being of that number who 
are accounted righteous, and who were worthy to be 
kept alive when all the wicked were destroyed from the 
earth. But secondly, there are other benefits which 
they shall become possessed of, which I now proceed to 
enumerate ; but as introductory to those benefits, I 


268 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


shall return to the period, when, as we have supposed, 
all the wicked were cut off by the destroying angels. 
This was the last preparatory act for the introduction 
of the Millennium, at which time a mighty angel ot 
God descended from heaven, having a great chain in 
his hand, who laid hold on that old serpent, the Devil 
and Satan, and bound him and shut him up, and set a 
seal upon him, that he should go out no more till the 
thousand years are finished. 

If Satan, therefore, is so disposed of as to be totally 
restrained in his malignant influences upon the earth, 
and the matter of which the earth is composed, as well 
as upon the hearts and persons of men, it will follow 
of necessity that man shall be restored to Adamic in- 
nocence and happiness. This great dragon, by most 
commentators, is maintained to be the Devil; but there 
are others who think that St. John had no allusion to 
that fallen spirit. But that in vision was represented to 
him, the heathen powers called Rome pagan. Those 
powers, they say, was the many headed monster, called 
the dragon, who was cast out from heaven. And the 
heaven from which he was cast, say they, was their go¬ 
vernment and power to rule the nations, held in sub¬ 
jection. But from that heaven this great dragon was 
cast down to the earth, and deprived of his power to 
rule. This great revolution of casting down the dra¬ 
gon, it is said, was commenced by “ Constantine, and 
carried on by his sons Constans and Constantins, and 
by others, Jovian, Valentinian and Valens, and was 
finally suppressed by the edicts ofGratian, Theodosius 
the First, and his successors ; when about the year A. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 269 


D. 400, tliis dragon was totally cast out, and became 
subject to the ruling dynasty of Christian emperors.” 
Clark. 

j 

This argument is founded upon the fact, that the 
above described powers of heathen Rome used to paint 
on their standards a monstrous red dragon ; hence are 
called the great red dragon by St. John: And corro¬ 
borates the prophecy of the Revelator in bis 19th 
chap, verses 3, 9, as follows: And there appeared ano- 
ther wonder in heaven, and behold a great red dragon 
having severi heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon 
his head . And the great, dragon was cast out, that old 
serpent,, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth 
the whole world ; he was cast out into the earth, and his 
angels were cast out with him. ’These angels, they 
say, were the ministers and officers of state, and were 
also deprived with their master, the dragon. All this 
is unquestionably true, and should be considered & 
just explication of the discomfiture of the great Ro¬ 
man heathen dragon. 

But as Satan, the Devil, must be considered at the 
head of ail this, spiritually operating in their councils, 
and after being cast out into the earth, i. e. down from 
the heaven of political power, he went to make war 
with and persecute the seed of the woman, whose in¬ 
fluences, through the blood of the Lamb, bad thus de¬ 
stroyed him. And on this very account, we ascertain 
that this dragon is not bound nor shut up, as we find he 
is in chap. 20 Rev. But this is the mystery of ii : the 
-same devil, who operated in the councils of the red 
dragon, St. John sees at a more remote period of time. 


270 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


seized by a mighty angel from heaven, who shall shut 
him up, and totally curtail his influences upon the 
earth, which wa£ not done when he was cast out from 
his heaven of political heathen empire ; for we see he 
soon corrupted the Christian worship, and reduced it 
in the hands of papal power to a situation but little 
preferable to the idolatry of the Roman heathen. The 
reason of these observations are, because at the present 
day some have made the dragon of the 12 chap, of 
Rev. verses 3 and 9, synonymous with the dragon of 
chap. 20, which is bound by the angel in the latter 
case, but not in the former. At the time when the lat¬ 
ter dragon is bound, it is said the first resurrection is to 
take place, but not so when the former. At the time 
of the feasting out of the heathen dragon, Satan does 
not cease to deceive the nations, but in the latter he is 
compelled to do so for a thousand years; Now if it be 
thought that the casting down of the great red heathen 
dragon in chap. 12, is the same thing with the binding 
of the dragon in chap. 20, it would be natural to look 
for a cessation of his influences among the nations, 
which has not been the fact, and also for the resurrec¬ 
tion of tiie martyrs at that time. Rut instead of this, 
many of the martyrs have fell instead of rising, and 
have sealed their testimony with their blood, from 
the time of Constantine and his successors till the pa¬ 
pal fires were extinguished in England, and even till 
the present time in some places. 

The binding, therefore, of the dragon, which is the 
Devil, is yet to take place, at the time of the first re-' 
surrection. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 271 

It is well known, that in the beginning an evil spirit 
who once had been an holy angel at God’s right hand, 

I did, through the means of a serpent, address himself to 
our first-parents, so as to induce an act of disobedience 
in them, which produced death temporal, death spiri¬ 
tual, and exposed him to death eternal. And it is 
contained in the Scriptures, that by one man sin enter¬ 
ed into the world, and death by sin. Now if Satan 
was the originator and cause of the temptation, and 
man’s own voluntary act the cause and origination of 
his own sin, and sin the cause of temporal and spirit- 
al death, it will follow, that if Satan be taken away 
in his identity and influence, and sin abolished from the 
heart and nature of man ; that death, and all natural 
and moral evil, the legitimate offspring of the Devil 
and Sin, must totally cease from the earth during the 
Millennium, or the thousand years in which Satan is to 
be bound. We cannot admit, that our fiirst-parents 
were in the least exposed to any natural or moral evil 
while in their sinless and innocent state, but that these 
were introduced, as above stated. Their removal, 
therefore, must be effected ere innocence and pure hap¬ 
piness can be restored again to man. This should be 
expected, because it is said of the lion of the tribe of 
Judah, that he has come to destroy the works of the 
devil. The Universalians fancy, therefore, that when 
the works of the devil are destroyed, all men shall 
consequently be happy ; but let them recollect that a 
sinner is properly a work of the devil, which Christ 
came to destroy, either by converting and sanctifying 
the sinner, or damning him in hell at the judgment day, 


' S72 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


soul and body, which is the destruction of the second 
death. These two destinies God has made dependent 
on certain conditions, to be performed by man, in refe¬ 
rence to Christ and his atonement. 

Let it be confidently relied on, then, that Christ will 
destroy both the devil and his works. The mighty 
conqueror will surely effect what he has undertaken to 
do ; and at that time, when he shall send an angel to 
bind Satan, and set a seal upon him, that he shall not 
deceive the nations any more during the thousand years, 
lie will also restore all that sin has spoiled, as it relates 
to the dwellers on the earth, whose happiness shall be 
;perfected and made as complete as it can be this side 
of the great change, which they are at length to arrive 
ut, which shall be effected in the twinkling of an eye, 
at the sound of the last trump. 

This being the fact, how changed and blessed will 
be the race of man, who shall live in the days of the 
Millennium ! when the tree of life, which was nothing 
else but a natural tree, endowed with extraordinary 
qualities, for the express purpose of perpetuating man’s 
natural life, shall again be restored to the earth for the 
same life-sustaining purpose. That the tree of life in the 
garden of Eden possessed this amazing quality, is the 
opinion of that most learned man, Adam Clark, who 
says the use of this tree was intended as the means of 
44 preserving the body of man in a state of continual 
vital energy, and an antidote against death.” For 
most undoubtedly the man Adam, and his consort Eve, 
naturally tended to dissolution, as well as all the lower 
works of the animal and vegetable creation. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


273 


But to counteract this natural tendency in the crea¬ 
ture man, God pave him, in his providence, access to 
this tree of life, that he by its use might live forever. 
Or till the time should arrive, when he, with num¬ 
bers infinite, along the flow of ages, ad infinitum, 
should be translated to a higher state of being, which 
would have been the fact, if he had not sinned ; nei¬ 
ther would the earth have fallen under the verdict of 
heaven, to be finally destroyed by fire. 

But when the man sinned, his Judge took him from 
the delectable field, wherein grew life’s fair tree, and 
fenced up the onlv way of approach to the blissful 
garden with the dreadful sword of the cherubim, and 
was thus made inaccessible to the approach of man, till 
the deluge came and destroyed the blissful eminence; 
so that the precise situation cannot now be ascertained, 
yet the region where it probably was, is on the river 
Shai al Arab, that is, the river of the Arabs, or the 
united streams of the Tigris and Euphrates. 

But if our first parents were liable to death, by a 
natural tendency to dissolution, how then can it he said 
that death was procured by sin? I answer, death was 
procured by sin, inasmuch as God judicially withdrew 
his providence in this particular, by removing them 
from this tree of life, which removal effectually exposed 
them to that dissolution, which was perfectly natural 
to them at first, and is natural to all life that depends 
on the use of food for its continuance. 

But if this position is correct, what then prevented 
the happy pair from a voluntary death, in whatever 
manner they choose to effect it, even before they had 


274 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


sinned ? Nothing at all, indeed, if they woul ; for 
their persons cannot be considered invulnerable to the 
approach of violence, nor yet of starvation, even in the 
midst of Eden’s plenty, if they refuse to eat. But as 
a sufficient barrier against such a catastrophe, was their 
own free will , and natural love of life. 

The gift offood, their natural appetite to taste things 
pleasant, with every other pleasurable circumstance, are 
all resolved in this one idea. It was God’s providence 
over his creature man to prevent their dissolution. But 
when man sinned, that particular providence of access 
to the tree of life, was taken away, when he became 
exposed therefore to death in every shape. But God, 
ever merciful in all his movements towards man while 
a probationer, in mercy and wisdom removed him from 
the happy garden for no other purpose than lest he 
should put forth his hand, and continue to eat of the 
tree of life, and live for ever in his horrid fallen state. 
Begetting children in his own abominable likeness, 
which would soon have filled the earth with a race o r 
lion-descript monsters whose appearance probably would 
have been in the form of man, but whose mind must 
have been perfect devil, the consequences of which 
among themselves, would have been that sort of confu¬ 
sion and perpetual misery, which none but a devil 
would rejoice to have effected, and none but a genius 
more than mortal could conceive the extent and degree 
of misery such a state would have produced. But, it 
may be inquired, w hy the fallen pair were not allowed 
to remain in their native Eden, seeing there was found 

a ransom for them, and this ransom made known at the 

* 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 276 

0 

instant of the first promise. The reason is plain—if 
they had remained, they would have put forth the 
hand and eat of the tree of life, and consequently lived 
for ever. If this had been permitted, it would, to all 
intents and purposes, have defeated the threatened pe¬ 
nalty, which was, In the day thou eatest thereof thou 
shalt surely die —which was accomplished by the fact 
of his becoming mortal at the very moment of his dis¬ 
obedience, from which moment he commenced a dying 
state, for then was withdrawn that peculiar providence, 
which heretofore had set at defiance the approach of 
all evil. This death, which was then commenced, va» 
a temporal death ; but if a further use of the tree of 
life had been permitted, the death of the body could 
never have gone into effect, and the spirit, which was 
then morally dead, must have ever existed in this hor¬ 
rid state, even in the still living body. But to prevent 
this, God in mercy, and in the greatness of his wis¬ 
dom, removed the man from the tree of life, so that by 
faith he might have access to a better Tree of Life, 
which is Christ. 

If this had not been done, an atonement could never 
have been effected—a mediator could never have ap¬ 
peared—no light, which nowlighteth every man which 
is born into the world, could ever have shined upon the 
wretched heart of man, for we might as well suppose, 
that the Word , the second person in the Godhead, could 
as easily become joined to the nature of devils in hell 
for their salvation, as that he could become incarnate 
with mortal flesh under such circumstances as are above 
described; but prevenient grace prepared the way. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


J 




70 


which In the other case it could not have done. Bu-t 
when removed from the tree of life, we see that God’s 
word could go into the fullest effect, which, if he were 
not removed, the threatened death could not have taken 
place but in part, and that as it relates to the soul 011 I 3 ', 
which, as it regards God’s veracity, is the same as if no 
part of his word had proved true. 

But in anticipation of the man’s being removed by 
the will of God, it pleased God so to love him as to 
give a ransom, that he might himself deliver his crea¬ 
ture man from the blow which his own attribute, jus¬ 
tice^ necessitated him to strike. 

On account, therefore, of this ransom, prevcnient 
grace was sent abroad in the nature of man, which 
some have called initial salvation, which reinstated 
man in such a condition, that he can again make use of 
free volition to good, and become a proper subject of 
offered mercy as it relates to a further salvation ; and a 
final one in the heavens above, if lie lays hold on the 
hope set before him. O 11 this account, therefore, it 
became possible for God to take upon him the seed 
of Abraham, and to become incarnate with man for 
his salvation. 

But if man had not sinned, and in consequence had 
kept possession of that holy mount, and had continued to 
nave uninterrupted access to this wonderful tree, would 
not the happy fields of Eden, in process of time, have 
become too strait for the increase of its inhabitants ? for 
it must be recollected, that when God first made the 
man and the woman, that he blessed them, and com¬ 
manded them to multiply and replenish the earth, and 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 27 1 

subdue it. This command was given before they fell. 
Therefore, as soon as they had increased to numbers 
more than Eden could sustain, they would have de¬ 
scended from this princely seat down by the way of the 
cast of Eden to the broad earth below. Eden, the 
garden of God, is with great reason believed to have 
been vastly elevated from a common level with the 
country surrounding it, and inaccessible by perpendi¬ 
cular rocks to a great height on all sides, except 
the east, where, to guard the way from the ap¬ 
proach of man after he fell, was placed mysterious 
beings, called cherubims, armed with a dreadful 
sword, which probably had the appearance of a 
perpetual stream of lightning. Now if this were Hot 
the fact, could not those, who, after the fall of man, 
might wish to visit this Eden, have easily gone to it on 
the west side, or at any other point? I am, therefore, 
convinced that it was a mount, with table lands, rich 
and fertile, and consisted of quite an extent of coun¬ 
try—thus elevated, overlooking to a vast distance a 
surrounding world, so that Adam when he sinned, fell 
not only from his moral rectitude, but from the most 
glorious location that ever graced this lower world, it 
man had not fallen, his posterity would soon have de¬ 
scended to the surrounding country, which was equally 
productive with the soil of Eden, for such would have 
been the direction of Providence, to prevent any in¬ 
convenience which otherwise must arise from an in¬ 
crease of numbers. 

But if in Eden men would soondiave so increased in 
numbers, as to require more room, consequently the 

Z 


273 


EXPITCTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM*. 


whole earth, in process of years, would have been 
found too narrow in its boundaries to sustain their vast 
multitudes. And in this very way death must have 
been the certain consequence among men. The total 
extinction of the whole race would have ensued, even 
if they never had sinned at all. Here, then, we see 
man in his corporeal state, surrounded by an unavoid¬ 
able necessity of yielding to death whether he sinned 
or not, unless some expedient can be found out by 
which they could in that case have been delivered. The 
reason why I think the whole race would have become 
extinct, is because an increase of numbers would soon 
have occupied all the space the earth affords ; con* 
sequently starvation, and the vast crush of human bo¬ 
dies would have ensued, and destroyed the whole. But 
God, who is wise as powerful, would, as surely as 
he exists, have defended them from this inevitable 
fate, and would have delivered them from so tragical 
an end. 

The method of relief unquestionably would have 
been a translation from their corporeal state of exis¬ 
tence to son\e other and higher state of being, which 
would have been effected from time to time, and from 
age to age, as should have become necessary, for ever 
and ever ; for it is not .to be supposed, that the earth 
would ever have been doomed to dissolution if man liae 
not sinned. That translations would have been the fact, 
we have die strongest assurance, both from the reasons 
above stated, and from the literal instances which we 
find in the Scriptures. For what other reason was a 
publicity of Enoch and Elijah’s translation permitted, 


f/XTECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


279 


linn to show such would have been the mode of remo¬ 
ving the human race from this location, if they had 
kept their fealty to God : And also to signify to the 
righteous, that as these were translated and changed in 
a moment of time, so shall all the saints be changed at 
the sound of the last trump, which heavenly expedi¬ 
ent could never have been known to men in its proper 
light, had not th«?ep instances been permitted*, 

But if there is to be no death during the Millennium, 
(as previously argued) and if there is to be a multipli¬ 
cation of men without any diminution during a thou¬ 
sand years, will not the earth, in consequence, become 
overcharged with an immensity of multitudes, as well 
in the latter case as in the former, and thus produce 
death even during the Millennium ? This will not be 
the consequence ; and the following reasons are 
thought sufficient to obviate such a supposition : First, 
it will require many years to retrieve the immense loss 
occasioned by the sudden overthrow of all the wicked 
just previous to the Millennium, which perhaps will 
amount to two thirds of the whole population of the 
globe. 

A second reason is, at the commencement of the 
Millennium there will be, as it is now, vast tracts of 
» waste land in various parts of the globe, which must 
thereafter be subdued and cultivated. These coun- 
* tries where the soil is cultivated, in many of them it 
is but partially done, and therefore will admit of a much 
higher state of husbandry, consequently the more ca¬ 
pable of maintaining an increase of population. But 
jf need be., God can easily restore and fertilize all bar- 


I 




280 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

» 

««* 

rcn lands, even the sandy deserts of Arabia, and all si¬ 
milar desolations, and clothe them with the verdure of 
the first Eden, as once he healed a tract of barren 
country by the means of the prophet Elisha, not far 
from the place where Elijah was translated ; and thus 
an abundance of space shall be prepared for the in¬ 
creasing millions of the Millennial state. Does not 
Isaiah allude to changes in the earth like this, as well 
as to the effects the gracious gospel should have upon 
the morally barren, desolate and unfruitful state of hea¬ 
then nations, when lie says, In the wilderness shall iva- 
ters brealc out , and streams in the desert. And the 
parched ground shall become apool>and the thirsty land 
springs of water : In the habitation of dragons> where 
each lay shall be grass , with reeds and rushes. Chap. 
35 , G, 7. Sec 12th division on this subject. 

It is presumed entirely inconsistent with the 
glory, perfection and happiness of the Millennium, to 
admit, that during that great Sabbath of rest, there 
shall be any liability to sickness, pain, accidents, or 
death. I think it safe and expedient to assert, that 
when the original cause of all moral and natural evil 
is removed, which is sin, that its effects must of conse¬ 
quence be no more felt or known on the earth, till the 
same cause be again permitted to operate. It is im¬ 
possible for the stream to flow if the fountain be dried 
up. 

But, asks an objector, if men during this thousand 
vears, are to till and subdue the soil of the earth for 
the purposes of food, and the innocent pleasures of 
life, will they not therefore be liable to accidents of va- 

/ 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


281 


rious kinds, as at the present time, and consequently 
to sickness and death ? To which I reply, can any 
suppose that Adam, to whom the command was 
given to till the earth and subdue it before he had sin¬ 
ned, was therefore liable to any harm or natural evil ? 
By no means ; for God, the mighty One, was rou nd 
about him, lest he at ?my time should dash his foot 
against a stone, for it is written, that upon all God’s 
glory there shall be a defence, and therefore could ne¬ 
ver have been injured if he had not sinned* 

If God in the beginning, while man was yet inno¬ 
cent, commanded him to subdue the earth, we may not 
suppose, therefore, that he w>as necessarily subject to 
casualties, and consequently to death on that account; 
because, to do the commands of God before the fall, 
could never become the source of moral nor natural 
evil. 

We have no knowledge that God has ever made any 
kind of being exempt from pleasurable labour or 
activity, whether of material or immaterial natures ; 
but we are led, from a consideration e* all created ob¬ 
jects, to conclude the contrary : because on all nature, 
whether animate or inanimate, the qualification of mo¬ 
tion is stamped ; for all that possesses life in any de¬ 
gree beneath man, manifest it accordingto their various 
powers. The whole tribes of the vegetable world 
show their motion, either by their constant though si¬ 
lent speed toward perfection, or descent again to the 
original soil ; and even the stedfast earth has her an¬ 
nual but tremendous journey to perforin. All this.mo* 

Z* 



2B2 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

tion is evidently given to the various grades of crea¬ 
tion to facilitate the bliss of being. 

That man shall therefore labour, is not at all dero¬ 
gatory to his happiness, unless they are doomed to La¬ 
bour under the consequences of some fatal error, as 
was the instance of Adam and his erring progeny. But 
most unquestionably, an industrious habit of body or 
mind, whether it relates to men, who are material, or 
to angels, who are immaterial, it is a grand ingredient 
in the composition of blessedness. 

From this view of the idea of activity, we may safe¬ 
ly conclude, that although the inhabitants of the earth 
during the Millennium shall labour, yet on that ac¬ 
count will not be subject to any inconvenience whatever 
more than Adam was in the first Eden. 

Therefore men shall labour, as was designed of God 

in the beginning, not with unnatural sweat and pain, 

\' v t ■ 1 

tilling the cursed ground, but with pleasure and sweet 

employ shall till the restored soil, supplying therefrom 

nature’s simple wants , till the sign of the great God 

shall again appear in the skies. 

Wants , asks the objector, is it not a natural evil to 

want 1 ) To tills I answer, by no means, where the 

power to obtain the thing desired is possessed, and the 

will, perfectly free, harmonizing with the desire to 

possess the object. Want, in this sense, cannot be 

an evil, but gives a relish to existence, where there is 

no prevention of the tiling desired. Such shall be the 

blessed estate of those who shall dwell on the earth in 

-the davs of the Millennium. 

* 

But if man, in the Millennium, shall regain his pa< 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 283 

Tadistical happiness and innocence, will he therefore 
become indifferent to clothing his .person ? Such a con¬ 
sequence cannot be admitted. I believe, for weigh¬ 
ty reasons, that God never intended Adam and his 
posterity should go naked, even if they had not sinned. 
The reasons which I oppose to such a position are, first, 
the shocking and more than beastly appearance a po¬ 
pulation of naked human beings would present. It 
would be excessively unnatural to suppose, that the 
Creator intended his most glorious creature man, male 
and female, parents and children, strangers and friends, 
old and young, should associate together naked under 
every possible circumstance ; which would have been 
the fact, if the position is true, that man was not to be 
clothed if he had not sinned. 

Such a view is absolutely abhorrent to every delicate 
and chaste feeling of the soul, even now in its present 
low and depraved state. How much more so, then, if 
man had not fallen ! Let none imagine that this opi¬ 
nion is irrelevant; because, being now fallen, and 
therefore not capacitated to argue upon any position 
belonging to a sinless state : but rather let it be recol¬ 
lected, that the views of propriety, honour, virtue, 
chastity, with all refined sentiments which may now be 
possessed by the mind, are the effects of a restoration, 
and, in a degree, are an approximation toward that 
height from whence we are fallen ; and therefore by 
this light I argue, that nakedness could not have been 
tltc condition of our race, if we were now in au nnfal- 
len state. It is my opinion, that if.man had been per- 
isnitted to live on the earth after his fall in an uure- 


284 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 

deemed state, that his condition would have been a 
horrible delirium, utterly incapable of reasoning at all. 
Therefore this good and perfect gift of reasoning pow¬ 
ers came down from the Father ol Lights, through the 
promised Messiah or Redeemer, so that man was ena¬ 
bled to reason, and to choose between good and evil. 
By this gift, therefore, I judge that a world of naked 
human beings was not intended by the Creator. 

If it is alleged, that in many countries of the torrid 
climates of the earth, that even now there are human 
beings who live naked, and in societies ; and yet the 
fact is not abhorrent to their views of delicacy. But, 
it should be remembered, that such human beings are 
extremely wretched in other respects, not having suffi¬ 
cient knowledge to use the facilities which nature has 
put in their power for their comfort and well being. 
But the moment the light of revelation, art and science 
shines upon them, they shrink from the gaze of human 
eyes, and seek an instant refuge in the habiliments of 
refined society. 

But ignorance was not the condition of our first pa¬ 
rents, neither ought we to imagine it would have been 
the condition of their progeny, if they had never fallen 
into sin and consequent wretchedness ; because such a 
supposition would imply a most flagrant imbecility in 
the very constitution of the creature man, and would as 
••certainly have led to innumerable miseries as ignorance 
now leads its victims, and would reflect upon the wis*- 
-dom of the Creator. 

Nakedness, therefore, (excepting the two first, and 
t^ven then a short time only) is incompatible with a 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 285 

state of holiness, innocence, and knowledge, whether 
"before the fall or after, in a restored state ; and is re¬ 
pugnant to every primitive virtue and delicacy possible 
to be conceived of. 

A second reason is, that we find an abundant pro¬ 
vision, prepared for no other purpose but to clothe the 
creature man. Has God stored the great wardrobe of 
nature for nought? which must be the fact, if naked¬ 
ness and holiness are inseparably connected ; if neither 
the two first, nor their children, were to be clothed, as 
many suppose. 

Neither will it do, in order to show a propriety in 
providing the rudiments of clothing, to say, that man 
was to fall, in order to be capable of enjoying this 
provision, because the object gained is not equivalent 
to the loss. 

If we believe that God in six days made the earth, 
and also clothed it with all green herbs, trees, and eve-' 
ry plant bearing seed, which now exists—then we sub¬ 
scribe to the opinion, that he at first made provision to 
clothe the human race ; because among these are found 
the rudiments of various kinds of clothing, suited to 
the convenience of men. The animal race, with some 
insects, minister to the same effect: witness all furred 
animals, with sheep, goats, camels, and the skins of 
beasts. 

A third reason that man was to be clothed, arises 
from the fact that he was created naked. But if he 
were not to be clothed, then it will follow, that in this 
respect he was privileged far beneath the brute crea- 
ion ; for these have their several vestures, some of fur, 


am 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

smoother than die downy velvet—others of feather?, 
■with colours as it were dipped in a sunbeam—others, 
again, shine in the scaly lustre of gold and silver mail 
•beneath the waters ; but man alone, sole lord of 
earth, not clad in any of these, stalks forth in na¬ 
kedness. From which it is evident, that a covering 
“was designed his noble frame, of a different mode 
and manner than that of beasts. But the fact of his 
nakedness bad not, till he sinned, amounted to an evil; 
and before such a consequence could have matured, a 
gracious God would have informed them of their situ¬ 
ation, and also have clothed them, as we see he did 
when it became uecessary. 

But did they not get a knowledge of their unclad 
state by means of tbeir sin ? It cannot be denied, 
but be thereby gained a premature knowledge of it. 
But this circumstance does not militate against the idea, 
that God would, in his own good time, have informed 
him that he ami his Eve were naked. For who will 
deny that the way of obedience to God is the true 
way of knowledge ; for it is ordained of heaven, that 
men shall get knowledge in the ways of righteous¬ 
ness, and not of disobedience, and by thus doing, shall 
•know more and more from time to time ; which would 
have been the case with Adam, besides that which he 
already knew by intuition, if he had not fallen ; and 
would have received a knowledge, not only of his na¬ 
kedness, but of all things else which could consist with 
Jiis happiness, as the circumstances of his continuance 
might have required, till he would have been transla¬ 
ted. 




% 




ninth division. 

Embraces a position, that when man fell from original holiness 
he lost his power of governing all wild animals, and became 
thenceforward exposed to their natural fury and dispositions r 
but in the Millennium shall recover his government again. 

/ 

At first the morning stars, when shouting from the skies, 
They saw the dripping globe from out of chaos rise : 

’Twas then when all that swims, or flies, or walks the earth. 
Had from the wondrous God receiv’d their joyous birth— 
That by the Sovereign King dominion then was given, 

To Adam’s gen’ral rule beneath the bending heaven. 

44 

t An absolute government over all the beasts of the 
field, the fowls of heaven, and the fish of the sea, was 
given to man as soon as lie was created. This dominion, 
if Adam had not sinned, would have continued to the 
present time, maintained by the superior majesty which 
shone out in every word and gesture of the then nn- 
contaminated man. He, it is said, was created hm u 
little lower than the angels; consequently, a glorioirs 
majesty sat upon his countenance, which, together with 
the subduing power of his voice, ruled at his pleasure 




288 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

the whole animal kingdom. If it is said of the angel 
who appeared to the wife of Manoah, the father ol 
Samson, that his countenance was very terrible, so J 
conclude was the countenance of Adam, and in no 
small degree, because he was but little interior to the 
very angels of heaven. But though terrible, yet glo¬ 
rious and beautiful to look upon,* consequently tlte 
most powerful and most ferocious; as well as the wea¬ 
ker animals of ocean, air, or earth, were, at plea¬ 
sure, awed into submission bv this first and holiest of 
men. That all manner of wild beasts were perfectly 
mild and docile in themselves before man fell, cannot 
be true, for the very idea of government and dominion, 
which at first was given to man over them, supposes the 
contrary. God blessed him, and said, Have dominion 
over the fish of the sea , and over the fowls of the air t 
and over every Jiving thing that movcth upon the earth . 
Gen. 1, 28. Here, then, is a dominion, a government, 
to be exercised over the brute creation ; and if, after 
the fall, in the days of Noah, a dread of man was to be 
on every beast of the mountains, how much more so, 
then, before he fell! 

But if perfect docility was the primitive character of 
every kind of beast, what a stupid position does this 
present them in, as subjects of natural dominion, 
The very idea of government, therefore, seems 
strongly to allude to the wildness and natural free¬ 
dom of their natures. But notwithstanding any 
subjugation to which they may be compelled, there is 
in them a natural disposition to their original state of 
wildness and ferocitv. which is proven if we leave them 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


280 


again to themselves, after having been domesticated. 
This principle of wildness and natural timidity is no¬ 
thing else but a principle of self-preservation, which 
the Creator at first stamped on all animal nature, which 
is evident in a less or greater degree among all beasts, 
fowls, fishes and insects. 

It is this principle of self-preservation or instinctive 
(though unconscious*) love of life, which God has 
breathed into all animals, which gives to them instinc¬ 
tive motives for action, and is that genial fire which im¬ 
pels them to obtain their food, and to flee from real or 
imaginary danger. Without this, no beast would have 
force enough to get out of the way when threatened. 
This principle is marked with deeper or fainter shades, 

* Once for all in this place, I will remark, that the word con¬ 
scious, or consciousness, properly belongs to no species of being 
on the earth but the rational/ It is defined by all lexicographers 
to signify a knowledge of what passes in one’s own mind, an in¬ 
ternal sense of guilt or innocence. This qualification is the only 
distinguishing mark between the brute and the man? The latter 
is thereby empowered to revolve subjects in his own mind in such 
a manner as to deduce rational conclusions from any premises 
conceived of, and is the only reason why he is a subject of law 
imposed by the Creator, and is, consequently, rendered accoun¬ 
table. 

But the former, not possessing this qualification, are not, there¬ 
fore, rational, and consequently are not conscious of either guilt 
or innocence, and therefore are not accountable to the Creator, 
as man is. Whatever sagacious qualifications any animal may pos¬ 
sess, they should be ranked under the idea of instinctive powers, 
which falls infinitely short of a rational consciousness, andprodu- 
( ces all those actions of which animals are capable, and is the 
power which determines the will of brutes, without the aid of rea¬ 
son or consciousness. \ 


290 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


as seemed good to the Creator, from the fierce tiger of 
the Bengal woods, downward to the humming bird of 
a summer’s morning, from thence to where animal life 
is lost in the sensitive plant, or the polypus of the sea. 
If, at first, the principle of self-defence, manifested ei¬ 
ther by the sanguine conflict, or by speed of flight, 
were not implanted by the Creator, it would follow that 
all animals not carnivorous, would soon have become 
extinct, by being devoured by such as were of the for¬ 
mer sort ; and they also would, in their turn, have died 
for lack of proper food. But the defensive as well as 
offensive spirit, which prevails through all the ranks of 
animation, is nothing else but the play of nature, the 
wisdom of God, so that the weaker may save time to 
propagate their kinds before they fall a prey to sustain 
the other branches of animation. That such was the 
original design, I shall attempt to prove, by referring 
to the peculiar construction and facilities afforded ani¬ 
mals to procure their food. 

There we see the fierce panther, couched in a thick¬ 
et, or hid in the thick boughs of the trees, from whence 
to leap upon his victim—there the eagle pursues, on 
rapid wings, the pheasant, or pounces, like a bolt from 
the clouds, upon the timid hare—the shark rives the 
briny waves, and flies, with the speed of an arrow, in 
pursuit of his destined.food. To the lion is given a 
mouth armed with canine teeth, and feet with horrible 
claws, to seize and retain his prey ; so every creature is 
fitted for their several modes of life, from the mam¬ 
moth, hugest of God’s works, to the ephemera of a 
summer’s day. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 291 

Perhaps, in tins place, if I give an account of the 
mammoth, it will not displease the curious. The ani¬ 
mal is by naturalists named mammoth , or mega-lonyx , 
the w hole race of which appears to be now wholly ex¬ 
tinct, except.a few skeletons which are yet remaining. 
The mammoth is undoubtedly a carnivorous animal, as 
the structure of the teeth proves, and is ol an immense 
size. It is stated by Dr. Clark, that from a considera¬ 
ble part of a skeleton which he had seen and examined, 
it is computed that the animal to which it belonged 
must have been nearly twenty-ft ve feet high, and sixty 
in length. The bones ol one toe were entire, and up¬ 
wards of three feet in length. It is argued by Dr. 
Clark, that the behemoth, of mammoth, was a cruel 
and fierce animal, and formed for tyranny and rapacity 
.—equallv lord of the Hoods and the mountains; its- 
habits of motion being with fury and speed. Although 
naturalists have contended, some, that Job, in the Scrip¬ 
tures, has distinguished, in his description ol the Ijchc- 
jnoth , the Elephant, and others the Hippopotamus ; 
but the sacred description does not agree with either, 
because the tail of the elephant is small and slender, 
and that of the hippopotamus but a foot long. But 
the tail of the mammoth is sa;d to be like a cedar tree. 
lie moveth his tail like a cedar. Job 40, 1 i. Its teeth 
plainly denotes it to have been carnivorous, from the 
unevenness of their surface, the processes being an inch 
.deep, which marks the creature as living on flesh. And 
yet it is described as feeding on grass with equal faci¬ 
lity, and probably lived both on animal and vegetable 

food. 


292 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

It was a many- toed animal, and perhaps of the tiget 
family, its strength and agility surpassing all of that 
race as far as its immense size seems to denote. No¬ 
thing, by swiftness, could have escaped its pursuit, th« 
largest, strongest and swiftest quadruped that God had 
formed. No power of man, (in his fallen state) or 
beast, could stand before him, for he was >the chief oj 
the ways of God. Job 40, 19. Creatures of this kind 
must have been living ill the days of Job ; for the 
mammoth, or behemoth, is referred to as if perfectly 
and commonly known. 

This monster, as well as the leviathan, the water 
dragon, or crocodile—the hippopotamus—the unicorn, 
or rhinoceros—the elephant—the anaconda—the tre¬ 
mendous and horrible 3yboya, with all lesser animals, 
were at the command of Adam in his innocence, and 
under his government, as his pleasure might suggest. 

And that all these were thus formed in the begin¬ 
ning, we have only to bring as proof, that God saw that 
all he had made was very good. Gen. 1,25. That 
every beast, with its peculiar temper and peculiar con¬ 
formation, adapted to their peculiar ntodes of subsis¬ 
tence, was very good. But if we admit the notion, 
that w hen man fell from holiness by sin, that the whole 
animal creation underwent a change of disposition, 
formation and habits, it is the same as to believe that 
God, on ttie account of man’s sin, uncreated what he 
had but a short time before pronounced very good. 
Gut if we reject this idea, and say, God did not thus 
change his perfect work as it respects animals, then we 
arc driven to believe, that sin acted as a powerful crea- 


"EXPECTED 'CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


293 


tor, not only in changing the dispositions of the whole 
animal kingdom, but that it really altered, and gave an 
entire new modification to the forms of all that class 
of animals which are carnivorous—but that it gave them 
different appetites from what they had at first, and diffe- 
rent teeth to masticate their food with, is altogether a 
fancy. If we attach such vast power to sin, as acting 
on the very muscles of the brute creation, and totally 
subverting their primeval modifications, why not argue 
the same subverting effects generally, through all the 
works of God on the globe ? Why not say that ocean 
became land, and land became ocean, and that all 
trees at first were succulent; but now, by the power 
of sin, are hardened to that of timber, as we find 
them in the great forests of nature?- But that such 
was the effect of the fall of man upon animals, or that 
such a new modification took place with respect to 
them, is no where to be found in profane or sacred his¬ 
tory, nor yet within the circle of human reasoning. 
Truly it is w ritten, see Gen. 1, 30. And to every beast 
of the earthy and to every fowl of the air , and to every 
thing that ereepeth upon the earth , wherein there is life, 
1 have given every green herb for meat : and it was so. 
Here it would seem, at first sight, that an impassable 
barrier is opposed to my views respecting the primitive 
food of animals ; but a little attention will give a diffe¬ 
rent view’. If all kinds of animals, w ithout any excep¬ 
tion, at first fed on grass, and the herbs of the fields 
and mountains, why then did not sin have on all the 
same effect, if lions, tigers, eagles, fishes, and all that 

are now carnivorous, fed on herbs before man sinned? 

♦a A 


204 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


How comes it to pass that cattle, sheep, deer, goals, 
horses, and all those species of animals that are not 
carnivorous, were not also changed by sin’s metamor¬ 
phosing power to become carnivorous also ? I can see 
no reason why any partiality could take place, or why 
sin, if it affected any, w hy it should not equally affect 
all? From which it is evident to me, that the verse 

■ ' ' V 

quoted signifies, that every herb of the field was given 
to be meat for every beast of the earth, and every 
creeping thing, which were destined and formed to feed 
on them, and to such only. 

If we believe that God created, in the beginning, 
carnivorous animals, as lions, tigers, leopards, pan¬ 
thers, wolves and hyenas, with all fowls that live on 
flesh, and all fishes, with all the monsters of the fish 
and reptile kinds, which absolutely Rave nothing else 
but flesh for their subsistence—then it will follow', that 
a corresponding mode of teeth and claws are necessa¬ 
ry to facilitate their grade in being. This is the proof 
they were made as they are in the beginning. 

But if all animals were perfectly docile before the 
sin of Adam, then it will follow, that such as w ere car¬ 
nivorous, and not fitted in their forms or constitutions 
to feed on herbs, must have existed in a starving con¬ 
dition, unless it is supposed a miracle was in continual 
effect for tiieir support, till such time as the sin of man 
should give them licence to seize the delicious repast 
prepared for their appetites, tcetli and claws—-unless 
we suppose die animals on which they might prey 
would remain passive, and let themselves be devoured. 
Thus the tiger may be supposed walking deliberately 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 205 

ftp, in all the grandeur and amiableness of his docile 
nature, to the equally docile stag, and gnaws him 
down, while not a muscle moves in opposition to the ea¬ 
ter. This cannot be. But unless they would thus tame¬ 
ly submit to be devoured, they instantly depart from 
the character of their supposed docility. The face of 
the argument is, that the first attempt of any of these, 
to get their destined food, is 3 declaration of war : 
Hence, in reference to the worla of animals, each 
stand on the defensive. If this is not so, then we have 
only to adopt the above opinion of docility, which is too 
inconsistent for belief. 

If they were not created at first with all this prepa¬ 
ration for a carnivorous mode of living, then, after 
man sinned, outsprang the teeth and claws of panthers 
and hyenas—outsprang the teeth of all the flesh-eaters 
of the deep—out grew the talons and beaks of eagles 
and vultures—instantly the vast anaconda received his 
constringent bone-breaking power—instantly his 
mouth gaped to engulph the passing prey—at once all 
these threw themselves into postures of offence, as if 
they had eaten nothing from their creation till the sin 
of man ; which must have been true respecting all 
carnivorous animals, if they w'ere not so created in the 
beginning, with corresponding appetites, dispositions 
and powers* 

We should reject it, therefore, and conclude that ail 
kinds of beasts are as they should be, and were at the 
beginning. With this view of them, we see a propri¬ 
ety in the mandate of heaven, when it was said to man, 
fiave dominion over the beasts, the fowls, the fishes, ansi 


296 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


.subject them to your controul for the purposes of your 
happiness while in this corporeal estate. 

But as soon as he sinned, he lost this extraordinary 
controul of animals, and became exposed to their na¬ 
tural fury ; or to those qualifications which are now 
^called by us, in our weak and feeble state, furious or 
savage dispositions, which, in themselves considered, 
are as innocent as^the turtledove; and if man was 
-still in his primitive state of holiness, would be as 
harmless as the song of the nightengale. It is man 
who is changed in his executive relation to animals—it 
is this circumstance which has so clothed the wild 
beasts of the wilderness with unapproachable terror—it 
is this that has given to many kinds of domesticated 
animals the appearance of what is called bad disposi¬ 
tions. But if we had the ancient dominion, these tem¬ 
pers of animals would cease to be known, with respect 
•to man, as evils, and would be viewed as they are by 
angels, or those intelligences who are above a state of 
mortality. But man i6 fallen ; consequently the very 
things appointed as the means of his happiness have 
become his afflictions in many instances. This rule is 
observable, even in the effects of the gospel ; for it is 
a “ savour of life unto life, or of death unto death,’* 
according as it is believed or rejected. 

It is not possible for the mind to admit for a moment, 
that there could arise any trouble to the man Adam, or 
to his posterity, if they had not sinned, from any imbe¬ 
cility to govern and manage all kinds of animals with 
the utmost facility, in accordance with the dominion 
given at first. But it is evidently a natural evil, which 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 297 

*■ 

cannot be avoided at the present time, that the human 
race cannot without danger and much trouble, govern 
many kinds of beasts, which danger and trouble was 
not incident to man’s pristine state; because we may 
not suppose the existence of any thing that could in 
any sense mar the perfect composure and happiness of 
man, till he had sinned. Sin, therefore, brought into 
being this kind of affliction, as well as all other kinds. 
If, then, such was the perfection of God’s kingdom in 
Eden before sin entered there, then it will follow, that 
when the Messiah’s kingdom shall have become defi¬ 
nitely victorious—when the stone cut out of the moun¬ 
tain shall fill the whole earth—when righteousness shall 
cover the earth as the waters cover the whole face of 
the deep ; then, and not till then, shall this evil, as well 
as all other evils, be destroyed from the whole face of 
the globe. 

During this glorious Millennial rest, shall undoubt¬ 
edly be accomplished the view Isaiah the prophet had 
of the peace and happiness of that day—a description 
of which we find in his eleventh chapter, from the sixth 
to the ninth verse inclusive. After having, from the 
commencement of the chapter, spoken of the glory, 
power, and wisdom of Christ, that he shall smite the 
earth with the rod of his mouth , and with the breath of 
his lips shall he slay the wicked \ the subject of his 
final and universal reigu is then introduced by the fol¬ 
lowing remarkable account: The wolf also shall dwell 
with the lamb , and the leopard shall lie down with the 
kid ; and the calf and the young lion , and the fading 
together, and a little child shall lead them. And the 


I 


298 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

Cotv and tlic bear shall feed ; their young ones shall lie 
down together , and the lion shall eat straw Hire the ox. 
And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the 
asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the 
cockatrice * den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all 
/ay holy mountain : for the earth shall be full of the 
knowledge of the Lord , as the waters cover the sea. 

The whole of this quotation from Isaiah may be un-« 
derstood, in a spiritual sense, to signify, that from the 
commencement of a preached gospel until the Millen¬ 
nium, there shall be innumerable instances of the con¬ 
version of lion-like men, cruel sinners, ravening like 
the evening wolves for their prey; or as leopards, 
fierce and dreadful ; or as bears, to devour and break 
in pieces ; or as serpents, the asp and cockatrice, sym¬ 
bols of deceit and vengeful malice. These are often 
-the trophies of gospel grace, who, by its power, be¬ 
come as lambs, or as little children, in point of humi¬ 
lity and innocence. 

But the quotation may be also literally understood, 
in application to the Millennium ; for God will so pro¬ 
tect man, and all that is his, during the Millennium, 
that though his flocks and herds, and little children, 
were to mingle with all the above named terrors of the 
wilderness ; yet God. by the restoration of man to his 
ancient dominion over the animals, would not suffer any 
evil to befal him. Such will be the blessedness and se¬ 
curity of Mount Zion w hen the Lord shall do this ; 
when man shall again have, in virtue of the ancient 
grant his ancient rights restored, through Jesus Christ. 


i 


J 


I 


t 





* 

TENTH DIVISION. 

Consists of arguments to prove, that neither the dispositions ~noF 
death of the animal creation was occasioned by man’s fall into, 
sin, as is supposed by many. 

i 

Between the beasts that graze, or those that prowl> 

Exists no link that claims the human soul ; 

No bond nor tie by which the fatal sin, 

Could reach the brutal state to give them pain ; 

No change from tame to wild, through all the ranks of brute; 

Took place when hell insidious brought the infernal suit. 

That innumerable evils are consequent upon the 
sin of Adam, is evident ; and that it extends to all his 
posterity with its baleful influences, is but too true ; 
and that God has pronounced a curse upon the ground 
on account of man’s sin, and appointed it to be finally 
destroyed by fire at the last day, which could never 
have been its miserable end if man had not sinned. 
Yet the sin of man has not, in its effects, reached the 
animal creation, so as to become the first cause of their 
dissolution. 

If it is thought the sin of the parent should not be 






300 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


required at the hand of the child, so as to subject it to 
direct punishment, either in this life or the life to come, 
wherefore, then, shall the sin of man be required at the 
hand of the animal creation, so as to subject them to a 
natural death ? Surely there is no relation between man 
and beasts, by which a communication of the fatal ef¬ 
fects of sin could reach a dumb animal. No man will 
allow such a relation can exist. But Adam, being the 
father of the human race, has therefore communicated 
the baleful effects of his sin to his progeny ; which 
could not possibly be otherwise, on account of the strict 
natural relation existing between us. If our first pa¬ 
rent had not sinned, his children would not have been 
depraved. Therefore Adam, not being the father of 
the animal world, could not affect their nature by his 
sin. 

We know that God isjust, and consequently requires 
of his creatures according to the ability bestowed in the 
constitution of such creatures as he has made. Upon 
this ground, it is evident God requires nothing of the 
dumb beasts ; for the grade of their free agency does 
not ascend high enough to distinguish between the mo¬ 
ral difference of actions. Therefore, because a beast 
does not possess a rational soul, God has not subjected 
them to any law which can make them accountable; 
for the only law that is discoverable in the animal crea¬ 
tion is that of instinct. No beast is at all conscious of 
any reason—why he has fled, why he has eat, why he 
has drank, why he has been frightened, why he has 
been at rest, or even that he exists at all any more than 
does inert matter. See note on page 239. 


f EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 301 

It would, therefore, be unjust to subject the beast of 
the field to suffer death, bn account of the error of a 
dissimilar kind of being, which I consider is as absurd 
as to transfer the consequences of Adam’s sin to the 
inhabitants of some other planet. Their death, there¬ 
fore, must be accounted for on some other principle. 
But the folly of supposing them subjected to death for 
Adam’s sin, shows itself from another view’, which is 
this: If justice and righteousness are eternal princi¬ 
ples, then, in a strict relation to this subject, it will fol¬ 
low, that God w ould never have slain animals, if it 
teas wrong , with the skins of which to make coats for 
Adam and Eve after their fall, and with whose flesh was 
undoubtedly made the first burnt offering to Bod, in 
reference to the promised Messiah. Then it will follow, 
that the life of beasts are to be inviolate on that princi¬ 
ple, and no exigence whatever could justify their death., 
But that it is not wrong to take the life of animals, God 
himself has shown us, by his own example, when first 
he slew beasts for the accommodation of the naked 
couple. 

We find Abel, the second son of Adam, familiar with 

this thing when he made his burnt sacrifice, which so 

provoked his brother Cain ; and I cannot doubt but 

flesh was in fact the food of the antedeluvians as much 

as in subsequent ages : and that animals was the most 

natural food, and the easiest come at in those early 

days, is perfectly reasonable. If it was just for Noah 

and his posterity to use them as food, then it was as jwsfc 

and as proper immediately after the fall as at any time 

since ; and I do not doubt but flesh would have become 

Bb 


302 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUMS 


the food of man, even if he had never sinned ; fa* 
what other purpose could they have been created ? 

From these circumstances, therefore, I conclude, that 
it is not radically nor relatively wrong to kill an ani¬ 
mal for any good purpose ; and that the sin of man 
did not procure the death of animals in any sense, is 
evident, at least to me, from the above reasons. 

It has pleased God to introduce his creature man 
into existence, with a corporeal body, and has ap¬ 
pointed food for its subsistence. Now, as God* 
has diffused throughout all his works the principle of 
life, therefore, in the composition of all kinds of fruit, 
is contained real animal life, and also in water, or any 
substances whether dense or rare. “ There is not a drop 
of pure and living water but contains not less than 
30,000 perfect animals, furnished with the w hole appa ¬ 
ratus of bones, muscles, nerves, heart, arteries, veins, 
lungs, viscera, and animal spirits,” (Dr, Clark) which 
are discoverable by the use of glasses. Death, in re¬ 
lation to these, was therfore in the world before the sin 
of man. 

Innumerable deaths must, therefore, have been the 
consequence, whenever man put forth the axe or plough, 
as was certainly intended he should do in order to sub¬ 
due tiie earth, forthus he was commanded beforehe fell 
Consequently the passing plowshare would have crushed 
—the falling forest would have killed—and the consu¬ 
ming fire, tor the removal of timber, would have de¬ 
stroyed multitudes of feeble life even if man had never 
fallen. 

We judge, therefore, that sin has brought death upon 


"EXPECTED CHESSTIAN MILLENNIUM. 503 

W)tre but offending man, which death was effected by 
his removal from the tree of life; for upon him was 
death threatened, but not upon any of God’s works be¬ 
side—it being perfectly natural to all animal life from 
the beginning. Yes, even man had even this mortal 
tendency ; but the tree of life was the grand preven¬ 
tive till he had sinned. 

It is a scriptural fact, that God at first blessed the 
animal creation by saying unto them, Multiply, Sic. 
Upon which principle, therefore, it would not have 
been necessary that a great many years should have 
passed away, before each particular kind of animal 
would, from their perpetual multiplication, have filled 
up all the space under the whole heaven—the conse¬ 
quence of which w’ould have been a general and par¬ 
ticular destruction of all land animals, occasioned by 
their own numbers. A general crush of all bodies 
must have succeeded finally, if starvation and disease* 
engendered by the vastness of their numbers, had not 
destroyed them sooner. 

Next to these, the myriads of the seas, in process of 
time, w'ould have thrown their scaly billions from the 
ocean’s bottom to the skies, and pushed on all the 
shores of all the seas, vast banks of putrefying fish! i I 
.And from aloft, and stretched from pole to pole, the 
-.whole heaven would have swarmed with countless 
clouds of fowl, from where the beasts lay crushed to 
the highest point w T here clouds can soar. 

From this view we see, if God had not in his wis- 
dom appointed from the beginning animal bodies to be 
ibe support of animal life, that the final consequence 


) 


304 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM# 

must have been a total extinction of every kind. \\ e 
ought, therefore, to believe, that as they were pro¬ 
nounced very good at first, so they are still, and that 
the sin of man cannot possibly have affected either 
their dispositions or death : And instead of a natural 
evil, we ought to consider the dissolution of animals a 
natural good of no small magnitude, and was intended 
so at first, whether man stood or fell- 

But if it should be thought impossible that so great 
a multiplication of animals could ever have succeeded 
as to engross all the space of the globe, even if they 
-had never died, let it be relied on that the language ot 
philosophy declares, that from one thistle seed, distin¬ 
guished by its botanical name, Acanthurn vulgare , is 
competent to produce, in the short space of four years, 
a progeny sufficiently numerous, not only to complete¬ 
ly eugross all the space of this globe, but also that of 
the whole solar system. See Dr. Clark on Gen . 3,18. 








« 




\ 



- 










DDITVENTH DIVISION, 

Presents arguments designed to confute the opinion, that all the 
animal creation, nor any part of them, shall arise from the dead 
at the last day, to be remunerated for their sufferings and death, 
suppossd by some to have been occasioned by the sin of Adam*. 


When from the bursting tombs the righteous dead shall rise, 
To meet their coming Lord descending from the skies, 

No howling voice of beast shall mix the holy throng, 

Nor bleat of gentler flocks disturb the rapturous song ; 

For these no blood was shed on Calvary’s dreadful cross, 
Because when Adam sinn’d they suffer’d then no loss ; 

And therefore cannot rise, no more than moulder’d trees' 
To mount the lofty skies and endless glory sieze. 


There are many who have imagined, on account of 

the first transgression, that the whole animal world 

have thereby been subjected to death. And that they 

may be remunerated for this suffering, it is supposed 

they shall be raised from the dead at the resurrection , 

hut whether at the time of the first resurrection, or the 

second, I do not know: the asserters of this doctrine 

have not informed trs on thi* point. 

J3b* 


\ 


606 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

This opinion is founded chiefly on the 8th chapter to 
the Romans, from verse 19 to verse 23, inclusive? 
where it is stated as follows : For the earnest expecta- 
lion of the CREATURE waiteth for the manifesta¬ 
tion of the sons of God . Verse 19. 

That any person shoald ever have supposed this 
CREATURE, which waiteth with such anxiety, can 
be the animals of creation as well as man, is exceed¬ 
ingly strange ; for where is the Scripture, or reason* 
which can afford ground for belief, that any beast was 
ever yet anxious for the manifestation of the sons of 
God, or looked for the coming of Christ as an atone¬ 
ment for sin, or for his kingdom to be set up on earth, 
which was the thing looked for, and so strongly desired 
should be manifested by the CREATURE, which is 
man. 

For the CREATURE ivas made subject to vanity r 
not willingly, but by reason of him , who hath subjected 
the same in hope. Verse 20. Although the creature 
man has sinned, arid thereby became subjected by the 
judicial act of God, to the vanity of an evil state, yet 
we cannot think that Adam, or any other man ever felt 
willing to be under this bondage of vanity and death; 
for it is stated that the creature Adam was drove out of 
Paradise, which strongly implies his unwillingness to 
go ; but he was compelled to submit, for it was the 
sentence of his God. Thanks be to Him, although 
he has wisely made us subject to the consequences of 
our own folly in this life, by removing us, in a seminal 
sense, from the tree of life, yet hath he subjected the 
Same creature man in hope, through the promised seetk 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 30? 

who is Christ, wno was in due time to be manifested, 
which is the thing spoken of, and is called the mani¬ 
festation of the sons of God in the 19th verse. 

Became the creature itself also shall be delivetea 
from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty 
of the sons of God. Verse 21» This verse puts the 
thing still farther from embracing animals in any sense 
relative to the point; because the delivery there spoken 
of is to be from the bondage of corruption into the 
glorious liberty of the sons of God. What is this lib¬ 
erty of the sons of God, which is said to be from cor¬ 
ruption ? Is it not the bringing of the soul from 
darkness to light, as well as finally the body from the 
grave ? Is it not the final sanctification of the soul, 
which i-s its fitness for heaven, and entitles his body als© 
to a glorious resurrection from the dead? Now what 
natural beast was ever brought from darkness to light, 
converted and sanctified ? It none, then how can they 
have a part in this glorious liberty, which is emphati¬ 
cally the privilege of the sons of God, who are finally 
to be raised from the dead, and is the delivery of the 
creature man from tiie bondage of his corruption into 
’life eternal, as it relates both to body and soul. 

But if the reader still inclines to believe the animal 
creation included with the creature man, let him recol¬ 
lect that such a position will give all the praise for the 
resurrection of animals to the devil ; because, it will 
follow, that if man had not sinned, then beasts, upon 
that supposition, would not have died, and therefore 
could not arise from the dead, to he made happy in 
another life. This last idea, however, is not applica- 
itTte to the case of man, because sin nor death do jw>i* 


308 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

in any degree, retrench the endless being of man, al¬ 
though it has changed the mode of his egress from 
this to another state. 

For toe know that the whole creation groaneth 
and travaileth in pain together until now . Verse 22. 
If this verse is spoken of animals, as well as of man, 
the question may be asked, in what way the beasts of 
the field groan and travail in pain as well as man ? be¬ 
cause the pain and travail appear to be a labour of the 
mind, on acccount of the evils entailed upon onr race 
in consequence of the fall, which is styled vanity—of 
which a beast is not at all conscious ; for there is not a 
shadow of reason to believe any beast ever knew, 
or in any sense possessed a knowledge that they even 
exist. It must, therefore, be spoken only of the 
whole creation of man in every clime, and of every 
nation, whether Jew or Gentiles; for the Desire of na¬ 
tions has been looked for by Gentiles as well as Jews j 
therefore this groaning and travail is nothing else but 
the motions of that light which lighteth every man who 
is born into the world, exciting the soul to feel after the 
□ceded Deliverance, if happily .they may find Him, of 
which a beast is not capable. 

And not only they , but ourselves also, which have 
the first fruits of the spirit , even we ourselves , groan 
within ourselves , waiting for the adoption , to wit , the 
redemption of our body . Verse 23. In this verse, the 
Apostle has included the whole Christian church which 
then existed, as well as the Apostles themselves, who 
had received the first fruits, or effects of the gospel 
dispensation, by the operation of the Holy Ghost. I 
'fiay included them w ith the rest of mankind in this same 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


300 


groaning, to be delivered from this present evil world, 
and longing for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of 
their body and soul from this state of vanity into the 
glorious liberty of the sons of God, which they shall 
possess after the first resurrection. 

But if we recieve the sentiment, that animals are in¬ 
cluded in this general desire to be delivered with the 
sons of God, then it will follow, that the beasts which 
perish (says Solomon) are brought up and put on a 
level with the rational part of creation in point of pri- 
vilege respecting a resurrection, and stand equally inte¬ 
rested with the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The sentiment is an error, because it implies an ope- 
ration of grace to make even a man sensible that bis si¬ 
tuation might be bettered by a redemption of bis 
body from the evils of this life, and from the dead 
through Jesus Christ to eternal glory, of which state a 
beast can have no joyous anticipation, for they have no 
faith. 

Again—if by the term every creature, we are to un¬ 
derstand all kiuds of animals, and that they there¬ 
fore must rise from the dead, then we are compelled to 
believe, that when our Lord said, Go ye into all the 
world, and preach the gospel to every creature, means 
that they should preach the gospel to animats as well 
as men. This is sufficient to confute the sentiment. 
See Mark, 14, 15. 

And he said unto them, go ye into all the world, and 
preach the gospel to every creature , But if the opin¬ 
ion is admitted, that beasts shall arise from the dead to 
life again, then the question may arise, with what body 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


laid in what form shall they come forth ? To solve this 
question, we may properly advert to the Scriptures for 
counsel, where we are informed, that the creature man, 
at death, is sown a corruptible body, but shall be raised 
an incorruptible body at the resurrection of the just. 
it is presumed none will doubt but this great and glo¬ 
rious event, so advantageous to the creature man, shall 
be in consequence of the righteousness, passion, re¬ 
surrection and intercession of the Messiah. 

But have we any account that the Messiah ever 
wrought a work of righteousness for animals, in the 
.same sense lie has for man ? which work consisted in 
the honour he bestowed upon the law of God, by per¬ 
fectly keeping its commands; for this law had been 
broken by man, and relatively dishonoured, but was 
gloriously honoured and magnified by the Messiah ; 
otherwise the atonement by the voluntary sacrifice of 
himself could have availed nothing. 

Have we any reason to suppose animals were put 
under any law, wtiereby they were made accountable? 
or that they have in any sense done contrary to the law 
that is in them, which is the law of instinct, and is very 
good, even at the present tune. 

Have we any account that beasts have sinned, and 
therefore ought to repent ? Are there any threatenings 
against them, as beings who are capable of doing 
w rong, in a sinning sense ? Or promises, that if they do 
well, that sin shall not lie at their door, in consequence 
of which they are to share in the felicities of a future and 
supernatural life? To which I reply, that if animals 
never needed such a work of righteousnes-s done for 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. itf | 

them by the Messiah as he did for man ; and if ther 
r.ever had any law which has made them at all accoun¬ 
table to God ; and if they never sinned,, and therefore* 
ought not to repent, and consequently are not to be 
threatened ; and if they have done no acts which can 
be esteemed moral virtue, as denoting a consciousness 
of the existence of a Creator, and of faith in him— 
then on what grounds have any a right to expect for 
dumb beasts a resurrection, in common with the more 
exalted and redeemed creature man ? 

But some may imagine, however, that there shall be 
an animal resurrection upon a different principle than 
that obtained by the Messiah for his creature man ; 
which may be supposed to be the sovereign act of God, 
without any respect to the atonement. 

That God is a great King, and absolute Monarch 
of all that eternity ever did, does now, or shall contain, 
for He doeth whatsoever he will, but nothing blit what 
is proper to be done ; w hich acts are ever in accord¬ 
ance with consistency and His holiness. He said, let 
there be light, and there was light. He built the ama¬ 
zing structure of the solar system, with all other sys¬ 
tems, and has established the latent principles of all 
effects, which have as yet unfolded themselves in na¬ 
ture’s amplitude. These are proofs of his sovereignty* 
We are not, however, at liberty to involve the free 
agency of man’s rational spirit with the results and ef¬ 
fects of latent principles established in nature. That 
item among the works of God is above the results of 
nature’s vast machine, and is endowed with the ama¬ 
zing yet glorious power of electing its own destiny; 


'312 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 

but beneath this item there is no result, but is the effect 
of some latent power, tending to their several ends. 

But as a wise sovereign, he does those things only f 
which are consistent to be done ; therefore weconclude, 
that He will maintain order in his works ; and for this 
very reason, also, I reject the idea of an animal resur¬ 
rection. 

The first instance of inconsistency, upon the suppo¬ 
sition that beasts arise from the dead, is, that it wilt 
become absolutely necessary for the Creator to endow 
them with a portion of rational understanding; or else 
they cannot know that they have had a prior existence, 
and that their resurrection is to remunerate them for 
their former sorrows, occasioned by the act of another 
kind of being, called man. 

But if this shall not be the fact, their ignorance ,of 
their former condition will entirely spoil the idea of a- 
recompense ; in which case, it w ould evidently be as 
well for the Creator, (if there must be animals) to make 
an entire new creation of dumb beasts, in preference to 
raising these of our earth to life again. And if it be 
necessary for them to receive a rational understanding* 
in order that they may receive information that they 
had previously existed in a dumb state, would it be in¬ 
consistent, in connection with this view, to suppose, 
that at some future time in the lapse of ages, when the 
great wheel of things has made its mystic revolutions, 
but they may receive another change for the better f 
and so at last arrive at the full stature of intelligent be* 
ing ; and thus corroborate the atheistical notion, that 
nature, in her multifarious revolutions*, did at length. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


3 i 3 

from the womb of everlasting ages, produce, as the 
climax of her power, the creature man. 

A second instance of inconsistency will appear, when 
we examine with what bodies they are to come forib. 

ts 

if they shall arise with spiritualized bodies, which have 
passed from a gross nature to a celestial one, then in¬ 
deed we shall have realized the Indian’s fancied heaven, 
where he imagines that his native woods, with hills and 
vales, and running Hoods, will again appear, with all 
the game of a thousand mountains, to he objects of an 
everlasting chase. 

But if they are raised up natural animals, they will 
again require the pasture of the mountains, with every 
kind of food which is natural to their comfort, which 
will again produce the procreative power—the multi¬ 
plication of their numbers will of necessity follow ; 
and in order to this, the earth must remain as it is, time 
without end ; which idea at once contradicts the doc¬ 
trine of the earth’s being destroyed by fire. 

But if that prophecy is truth, which states, that there 
is coming a day whereon the heavens shall be on fire, 
and the elements are to melt with fervent heat—when 
the earth, with all its works shall be burnt up—when 
every mountain and island shall flee away, and there 
shall be no more sea ; whei% then shall the animal 
kingdom have a resting place, or where shall the fowls 
winnow the passing winds, or the fish sport among their 
accustomed waves? or where shall they be kept in 
safety, till the dreadful storm is passed away ? 

Much learned labour has been bestowed, to render 
the subject of an animal resurrection olausible, found- 

Cc 


iil4 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

ed on the supposition, that justice itself is bound to re¬ 
munerate them for supposed sufferings. But it ap¬ 
pears to me, that certain proof should first be come at, 
before we make such deductions. A consciousness oi 
suffering is absolutely wanting in the whole animal 
world. Their grade in being does not arise high 
enough to possess a conscious knowledge of suffering, 
so as to deplore and lament it. Here is manifest the 
wisdom of God, who, while lie made animal natures 
capable of feeling, denied the power of rational think¬ 
ing ; therefore, are not conscious so as to deplore pain 
when they feel it. This alone is possessed by man—a 
consciousness, so as to deplore pain when it is know¬ 
ingly felt ; but even man is not conscious of pain when 
asleep. Some kinds of animals show signs oflife even 
after their heads are taken off, viz. the tortoise, several 
kinds of fish, and serpents ; but there is no knowledge 
of pain, though the flesh agonizes. It follows, then, 
that if their heads were on, unless endowed with a 
consciousness of knowledge, and sense enough to de¬ 
plore such pain, that their suffering is not of that sort 
which might expect redress from the Creator. This 
argument I would apply to all animals, from the 
insect up to the most sagacious beasts of the field. But 
if animals must arise from the dead, then it will follow, 
that no exceptions are to be made, and will extend to 
every niinutia of animation, embracing every species, 
with every particular insect that ever existed, even the 
vermes of the human body, as w-ell as of animals, 
which loads the opinion with contempt beyond endu¬ 
rance. 


"EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 315 

Finally : that doctrine which pleads a resurrection of 
animals to a future state, plainly charges the Creator 
with folly ; inasmuch as that work which he pronoun¬ 
ced very good, is so constituted, as finally to be redu¬ 
ced to calamity necessarily, (not by choice, as was the 
case with man) so as to justify a demand even on the 
justice of the Creator of a remuneration. But I think 
-I have proven in the preceding pages, that animals 
were created subject to death, without any reference to 
the sin of man ; and therefore, it being an appoint¬ 
ment of the Creator, no remuneration should be ex¬ 
pected for animals, any more than for vegetation, 
w hich also is appointed to die annually. The death 
which was brought into the world by sin, falls on man’s 
body and soul, but not on beast. These effects, which 
are similar in appearance, are the result of dissimilar 
causes. The first came by sin, but the latter by the 
appointment of the Creator. 


TWELFTH DIVISION, 

Presents a view of the vast Multiplication of mankind during the 
Millennium, and of the happiness of their political state ; and 
who they are that will attempt to make war upon the camp of 
the saints, called Gog and Magog; and why Satan must be 
loosed out of his prison a little season, after the Millennium ; 
and in what manner they will attempt an attack upon the camp 
of the saints, and of their final end. 

If God at first ordain'd the procreative birth, 

That men should multiply on all the new made earth ; 

If marriage then was holy, then was bless’d of heav’n, 

1 When first the only two w ere to each other giv’n : 

So when Millennial years shall all that’s evil hide, 

The human race restor’d, shall then be multipli’d. 

That the multiplication of the human race will be 
immensely great during the Millennium, there cannot 
be a doubt. This the Revelator seems strongly to in¬ 
timate, when he speaks of the army of Gog and Ma¬ 
gog, which will begin to exalt itself against the camp 
of the saints in the four quarters of the earth, whose 


EXPECTED 'CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 317 


Tiiumbcrs (of the apostates only) shall be as the sand of 
the sea for multitude. Rev. 20, 8. 

And further, it is evident, there will be a multiplica¬ 
tion of mankind during those years of Rdiness and 
innocence, for we find a qualification of this kind ex- 
isted in the composition of the blessing which God 
pronounced upon the venerable ancestors of our race, 
when first they came in all the glory of perfection from 
the hand of their Creator. 

The qualification contained in that first of blessings 
pronounced on man, was, 31ultiply and replenish the 
earth. If, then, it was consistent to ordain the propa¬ 
gation of our species in that holy and sinless state, 
most certainly it will be equally consistent in the Mil¬ 
lennium ; because the ordinances of heaven are founded 
upon the eternal principles of righteousness, and the 
propagation of human beings is well pleasing in the 
sight cf God—provided always that the bond of mat¬ 
rimony and reciprocal aftection, be the only cause ot 
such propagation. Every deviation, therefore, from 
this rule, is open war with the wisdom and order of 
heaven. And all pretences to holiness and sanctity, of 
such as despise the marriage bond, and boast their abi¬ 
lity to live above it, are generally the authors of much 
secret confusion and wickedness, and would do well to 
notice the caution of Solomon, Be not overmuch rig A- 

teous _ why shoutdst thou destroy thyself ? Eccle. 7, 16. 

If the marriage bond, that obvious wisdom and ordi¬ 
nance of heaven, which at first was established in the 
paradistical state, was holy, just and good—then equal¬ 
ly so when the earth shall be restored, when man shall 



318 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

become universally innocent. Consequently the race 
of man will be exceeding numerous ; for, during the 
lapse of a thousand years, there shall be no diminution 
of their numbers by death, for then shall be waged no 
wars. The instruments of death, that once made hor¬ 
rible the field of battle, shall then become instruments 
of husbandr}’. No inordinate appetite, the fruitful pa¬ 
rent of disease, shall then possess the souls of any, but 
simple, innocent, restored nature shall only crave her 
support, which shall ever be at hand by the attending 
providence of God, so that they will be as far removed 
from natural evil as Adam was before he fell. 

If it be needful to restore again the tree of life, it 
will be in sufficient numbers to supply every individual 
with its life-preserving fruit, so that death, produced by 
a natural tendency to dissolution, (as I believe was the 
condition of man before he sinned) will not be permit¬ 
ted to approach the human race. 

This being their condition, the increase of his num¬ 
bers bailies all calculation ; but undoubtedly the whole 
earth will become as a well tilled garden in all the acces¬ 
sible climes, in order to afford habitations for the Mil¬ 
lennial population. It cannot be reasonably doubted 
but the earth affords land enough to accommodate all 
that can be expected to come into being during the Mil¬ 
lennium, besides the saints who will be alive at its com¬ 
mencement, in which time the human race will suffer 
no loss by death. If all the race were now living that 
have existed from the beginning, there would be more 

T 

than twenty-six persons to each square foot of land. 
Thfs calculation is deduced from the two follow ing da- 


EXPECTED OHftfS'TIAN MILLENNIUM-. 319 

tus : First, the inhabitants of the earth who have exis- 
ted since Adam till the year 1818, are computed at the 
incomprehensible number of thirty-six thousand six 
hundred and twenty-seven billions, eight hundred 
and forty-three thousand two hundred and seventy-five 
millions, seventy-five thousand eight hundred and forty 
six. The second data is, the earth affords fifty mil¬ 
lions of square miles of land. This, reduced to square 
feet, amounts to one thousand three hundred and nine¬ 
ty-three billions, nine hundred and twenty thousand 
millions. The larger number, which consists of inha¬ 
bitants, is divided by the lesser number, which consists 
of square feet of earth, which produces the distracting 
product of twenty-six persons to each square foot* 
From which it is evident, that long ere this time, death 
would have been in the world if man had not sinned, 
unless God had, from time to time, removed them by 
translation to a higher and more refined mode of exis¬ 
tence. 

' ✓ 

But after the Millennium shall have commenced, in 

order that all may be sustained, as population shall in¬ 
crease, the habitations of men will gradually become 
more and more compact; consequently, by the provi¬ 
dence of God, the whole earth to whom it belongs, w ill 
be divided into small possessions, sufficient for the per¬ 
fect comfort of their occupants. A deed, which is notv 
the legal security for landed possessions, with a place 

I for record to guard against the invasion of rights, as 

| at the present time, will then be useless among men. 
A simple line, marked and known as the boundaries of 
sthe dweller thereon, will be all that will then be neei- 


320 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


ful. All legal officers shall then become useless; there 
shall be no such thing as the administration of laws by 
man ; all precautions against villainy, such as penal 
laws now exhibit and inflicts ; locks, bolts, bars, aud 
prisons, shall for ever cease, for God, the holy one, 
shall rule in the hearts of men ; consequently there 
will not exist a desire contrary to pure righteousness 
And wisdom shall not then be far off, but in all hearts, 
leading all souls, in all cases, to the best possible con¬ 
clusions, which will effectually evade every misunder¬ 
standing which now often afflicts the hearts of the most 
pure. At that day, w ill totally cease all kinds of use¬ 
less business, and nothing be retained among men but 
those pursuits, as mechanics and merchants, who shall 
make and trade in those articles which shall be for their 
simple comfort —nothing for luxury, nothing for pride. 
Money will probably cease to be a circulating me di- 
mu—an exchange of commodities will take its place ; 
but even this w ill not occupy one ambitious thought, for 
no desire to lay up against an evil day can then possess 
the mind. Having food and raiment, house and home, 
they have all that heaven ever designed man could in¬ 
nocently possess, and their security will be the provi¬ 
dence of God, who shall lead them and feed them con¬ 
tinually 

If any shall choose to pass to other countries, there 
shall nothing prevent ; for most certainly the facilities 
of intercourse, both by sea and land, will then be in 
use, and a perfection of safety shall accompany all, in¬ 
fallible safety, such as now cannot be expected, while 
Satan is permitted to wander up and down in the earth. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 321 

The passing stranger will need no money; no one will 
say, this or that is my possession ; but all is the Lord’s. 
One vast commonwealth of kindness shall then envelop 
the globe. 

A desire of different religious sectarians to disciple 
others to their peculiar doctrines, will then for ever 
cease ; and the missionary labours to counteract the 
baleful effects of error and sin, will then also be at 
an end ; for all shall then know the Lord, and feel 
salvation in their heart, from the least to the greatest. 
But, asks the reader, does not such a view of the Mil¬ 
lennial state present the human race in a condition too 
inactive relative to societ}', and the employments of life, 
the glory of which is activity, when directed to worthy 
ends ? Let Adam, and his progeny, answer this, if 
they were not fallen. Was there not a work appoint¬ 
ed for them to do? To Adam it was said, Dress the 
garden ; and to his seed, then in a semiual state, sub¬ 
due the earth. Stupidity, therefore, during the Mil¬ 
lennium, will not be man’s character, no more than if 
they had never fallen. With the gentle labours of the 
day, shall be blended the joys of holiness, and to re¬ 
count with wonder the works and ways of God in his 
providence and grace since the world began, which 
will be a constant and great resource of mental and 

Social employment. 

To look forward for the accomplishment of the things 
yet to take place, when the Messiah shall come with 
clouds and great glory, to ruise the wicked dead, and 
to be avenged on his enemies, when themselves shall be 
changed in the twinkling of an eye, from a corporeal 


32 2 EXrECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


to a celestial state, and be caught up into the air to 
be for ever with the Lord. 

The anticipation, too, that they shall be present when 
God shall make all tilings new ; when in the great space, 
where now is situate the amazing fabric of the solar 
system, which was created in six natural days, but 
after the judgment that space shall be blank, and void, 
and dark again—He shall fix in the centre of this deep 
the foundation of a more glorious system of worlds, 
wherein shall dwell righteousness. And who knows 
but that new creation is to be the glorious residence 
and future heaven of the saints of this globe, and of 
the others ? Did not the Saviour say to his disciples, i 
go to prepare a place for you? 

Such thoughts as these shall be the sweet employ¬ 
ment of the saints ; but are not these the thoughts and 
joys of the saints now? Yes—but in a very limited 
sense, compared with the more enlarged and glorious 
-views of the saints then ; for doubtless there will then 
-exist, as with Adam before he fell, a sociable and fa¬ 
miliar acquaintance with angelic beings and spirits of 
glory, who will often and visibly mingle with the assem¬ 
blies of the saints then on earth, telling wonders from 
4he skies, which now it would not be lawful for them 
to utter. 

Rut shall they, hi the Millennium, assemble as 110W 
to worship God ? Most certainly ; and in those days 
there will be no loiterers—all will be fervent, and full 
of the spirit of praise—there will then be no need of 
ministers to call to repentance, for all shall know the 
Lord—nor to expound the Word, for all shall under* 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 323 

stand—the watchmen shall see eye to eye ; and the 
spirit of grace and of glory shall be upon all, for the 
very thing which Moses so vehemently desired, viz. 
that all the Lord's people were prophets, shall then be 
universally accomplished ; for the fire of the Lord 

• t 

shall be upon them, to fill them w ith the spirit of pow r er, 
to give him glory. Such joy, and much more abun¬ 
dant and lasting, will fall upon them than fell upon the 
Israelites, when they saw the nimble glances of the 
holy celestial fire kindling upon the sacrifice, which 
laid upon the altar ; for when Moses and Aaron had 
blessed the people, the glory of the Lord appeared. 
And there came out a fire from before the Lord, and 
consumed upon the altar the burnt offering, which, when 
the people saw , they shouted and fell apon their faces, 
Levit. 9, 24. “ This celestial fire was carefully pre¬ 

served amongst the Israelites, till the time of Solomon, 
when it was renewed and continued amongst them till 
the Babylonish captivity.” JDr . Clark ♦ 

So, doubtless, the glory of the Supreme Being will 
often be seen among the saints in the Millennium; in 
whatever ways shall please him. Sometimes as the 
meek and sociable God, such as he appeared to Abra¬ 
ham under the oak tree in the plains of Mamre. Gen* 
18, 1. Sometimes as a pillar of fire shrouded round 
with thick darkness, through which his glory may bo 
seen Hashing terrible brightness, such as he appeared to. 
the camp of Israel in the wilderness. Lxod, 16^ Kb 
At other times such as he appeared to Moses and Aa¬ 
ron, and the seventy elders, who saw the God of Israel ; 
and there teas under his feet , as it were , a paved wark 


,524 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven, 
in its clearness . Exod. 24, 10. 

Isaiah also saw him in a vision, sitting upon a throne 
high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above 
it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings ; with 
twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered 
his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried to 
another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. of hosts, 
the whole earth is full of his glory . Isa. 6, 1, 2, 3, 4. 
St. John had a view of heaven’s glorious king when 
lie in spirit saw him, having heard behind him a great 
voice as of a trumpet ; and being turned, he saw one 
like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment 
down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a gol¬ 
den girdle. His head and his hairs were white like 
7vool, as white as snow ; and his eyes were as a flame 
of fire ; and his f ext like unto fine brass, as if they 
burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many 
ivaters. Rev. 1,10, 12, 13,14, 15. St. John saw him 
again, after another manner, in the same vision. Be¬ 
hold a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the 
throne. And he that sat was to laok upon like a jas¬ 
per and a sardine stone ; and. there was a rainbow round 
about the throne in sight like unto an emerald. Rev. 
4, 2, 3. 

From what 1 have quoted from the sacred text, I feel 
justified in believing, that God having both in the old 
and New Testament times, suffered holy men to see his 
glory, both in vision and open sight, and also the lite¬ 
ral appearance of angelic beings at various times and 
places, that he will much more abundantly rejoice the 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 325 

souls of his saints in the days ot the Millennium, with 
sights of heaven’s glory and heaven’s inhabitants. The 
Millennium will he God’s great Sabbath, when he will 
be with his saints, and his glory will fill this temple, the 
earth, so that no evil thing shall in no wise enter to 
stain the lovely whiteness of the garments of the saints. 
No doubt the songs of angels will be often heard in 
the surrounding heaven. Bright flashes of glory will 
often streak the skies—glorious sights, such as Elisha 
saw on the mountains of Jerusalem, will then be often 

seen. 

There can be no doubt but at the present time there 
are myriads of spiritual beings hovering all round, to 
whose view we are ever exposed, both when we sleep 
and when we wake ; but in the Millennium our eyes 
shall be purged from this dimness of vision, which sin 
has caused, when there shall exist unnumbered and 
unknown resources of extatic joys, of which this sinful 

estate cannot admit. 

A second idea ot this division is, to ascertain the rea¬ 
son why Satan shall be loosed from his prison a little 
season after the thousand years of his confinement 
shall have passed by. That he will be loosed again 
after his imprisonment is evident from Rev. 20, 7, 8 ; 
where it is stated, And when the thousand years are- 
expired , Satan shall be loosed out of his prison ; and 
shall go out to deceive the nations which arc in the four 
quarters of the earth , Gog and Magog , to gather them 
to battle , the number oj whom is as the sand of the sat. 
But what can Satan have to do on the earth at that pf* 
riod of time, after having been banished a thousand 

Dd 


326 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


years ? His business undoubtedly will be of the same 
%/ 

nature it was before man fell, which was to tempt man 
to sin, and to destroy him. We are informed that God 
suffered the loyalty of Adam to be tested by the temp¬ 
tation of the devil, for the purpose of his trial, but not 
for his ruin; for if we say his ruin was intended, then 
trial on the part of man is out of the question. Be¬ 
cause an agent, possessing mental rational ability, is 
always supposed possessed of power to obey or disc- • 
bey. If this is not so, then man was never an agent, 
only as the several elements are agents, entirely uncon¬ 
scious of what they are propelled to do. 

But I consider free agency the very qualification of 
man’s rational nature, and that it is morally impossible 
for him to be possessed of the one without the other ; 
therefore, if he were not rational, he could not be an 
accountable free agent; and if he were not a free agent, 
he could not be liable, and therefore could not have 
fallen ; for he, instead of being a rational accountable 
man, must necessarily have been a dumb beast, na¬ 
tional free agency, therefore, is that degree of being 
•which exalts man to a capability of distinguishing be¬ 
tween good and evil, whether before his fall or since, in 
a restored state, and also makes him liable. Liability, 
therefore, to fall, or power to stand, is man’s original 
character, or he would have been but a mere ani- 
maJ. 

But since it is the way of heaven to try the fealty of 
all intelligent agents, both of men and angels, we may 
not question its propriety, but rather rejoice, that out of 
inert matter, God has raised up man to a consciousness 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


327 


t»{ ratiouable being, endowed with a capacity of giving 
testimony of consent to his government. But those 
who are accounted worthy to bear the insignia of 
saints, when the Millennium commences, having had 
their trial. Satan, therefore, to these can have no fur¬ 
ther temptations to offer, because they have passed the 
ordeal of heaven, and are for ever safe. What pur¬ 
pose, then, is to be effected by his being loosed a little 
season ? This question we shall defer answering till we 
have examined two positions, which have not unfre- 
qucntly occupied the thoughts of the wise and the lear¬ 
ned, in reference to who those can be whom Satan will 
gather together, called Gog and Magog, to make war 
upon the saints. Some have supposed that this great 
army, called Gog and Magog, will be composed of 
devils or spirits, who are subordinate to Satan, the 
prince of devils, who, being released at the same time 
when Satan shall be loosed, will pour forth upon the 
earth from their place, by millions, and at once attempt 
an attack upon the camp of the saints. But this can¬ 
not be true, because we find Satan deceiving the na¬ 
tions which are in the four quarters of the earth. The 
thing, therefore, is plain, that they whom he will then 
deceive are human beings, and dwelling on the earth. 

l t No man will suppose that Satan can deceive devils. 

> An army of devils, therefore, it cannot be who shall 
make this literal attack upon the camp of the saints. 

] Neither should it be supposed, that it will consist of 

| 

persons who, during the Millennium, were all that 
time sinners ; but on the account of religion being ex¬ 
ceeding popular in the earth at that time, choose to 


328 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

give place to it out of policy. Whatever character 
such persons might assume during that glorious victo¬ 
ry of the church, whether of moralists or of professing 
Christians, or of open sinners, it is perfectly equal ; 
because if they are sinners, they are already deceived 
of the devil ; and with no propriety whatever can it be 
said, that Satan shall go out into the four quarters ot 
the earth to deceive those who are already deceived to 
ali intents and purposes. 

The case of Eve w ill illustrate this point. Of her 
it is said, that she was deceived of the serpent; but to 
establish her innocence and righteousness previous to 
her being deceived, needs no argument. It is evident, 
therefore, that those wdio are decieved of the devil at 
that time are not sinners, previous to their being thus 
decieved. Therefore if this army of Gog and Ma¬ 
gog is not to be composed of the saints, who were 
counted worthy to be called such at the time of the 
commencement of the Millennium, nor of devils under 
the conduct of Satan, their head ; nor of sinners, as 
such, previous to the temptation being proposed, who, 
then, are they ? 

This question I now proceed to answer. I said 
above, that it is the way of heaven that all free 
agents should have a trial, or state of probation ; but 
this trial, the millions who shall be born during the 
Millennium, will not have had at that time. 

But I will here observe, that two qualifications must 
absolutely be accomplished respecting man, before he 
can possibly commence a probationer. The first is, the 
the terms, or law, by which he is to be tried, must be 
i 



EXPECTED CXiKISTTAN MILLENNIUM. 329 


raade known to him. The second is, a seeming in¬ 
ducement must be presented, by way of temptation, to 
break those terms or law, so that a field of action may 
be presented, wherein the voluntary choice of the free 
intelligent agent may prove to himself and others, that 
be is able to distinguish between good and evil b} r 
choosing the one or the other, which is the test of 
fealty God requires. Hence it will follow, that if 
Satan had not been permitted to tempt Eve, and 
through Eve to tempt Adam, that they would never 
have been, in the direct sense, probationers, unless some 
other way had been permitted to try them. Adam and 
Eve being perfectly holy, could have disposition to 
violate God’s law given them ; accordingly, they ne¬ 
ver would have violated it, which, as it regards them, 
is equivalent to there being no law at all : because, we 
may not suppose a knowledge of this law could raise 
in their minds a desire to break it. Such a thought 
would make God the tempter, by giving them a law\ 
St. James says, Let no man say when he is tempted , J 
am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with 
evil, neither tempteth he any man —either directly or 
remotely to sin. 

From which [ conclude, that the circumstance of 
God’s giving a law to our first parents, was not, in the 
remotest sense accessorv to the breach of that law, of 
which they were finally guilty. Was it necessary, then, 
that there must be a devil before man could be tempted 
or tried, or commence bis probationary state? I an¬ 
swer, by no means ; for if the angels w ho kept not 
their first estate, were tempted or tried without a devil, 

Dd* 


330 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM# 


{for we cannot suppose the existence of any till those 
angels fell) then it might have been the same with 
A.dam. Some other mode, as I have before remarked, 
would certainly have tried him ; because I dare not 
suppose any latent tendency, couched in the qualifica¬ 
tion of the law, which was given him to seduce him to 
a breach of it. Neither dare I say there must be a 
devil called for, to help forward the trial of man, in 
order to qualify him a probationer; but there being a 
devil, he was permitted to be their trier or tempter. But 
if there had been no such fallen evil being, a mode of 
trial in some other manner must have ensued, or man 
could never have manifested a voluntary choice of ei¬ 
ther good or evil; and consequently a probationary 
state could never have called into action that glorious 
power, viz. rational free agency 

From w hich it is evident, that the trial of no intel¬ 
ligent being can commence until such time as is pre¬ 
sented, after some sort or manner, a seeming induce¬ 
ment to break over the prohibition- 

If, then, the above position is true, it will follow, 
that our first parents were not on trial till the moment 
they were tempted ; neither are infants on trial till such 
time as they arrive to know good from evil, and are 
tempted to do that which they know is w rong ; and, for 
the same reasons, neither can the nations who shall be 
born during that thousand years, in which Satan shall 
be taken away, both in identity and influence, be con¬ 
sidered as probationers, till the time arrives when he 
shall be loosed a little season to tempt them, when their 
trial shall properly commence, and not before. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 331 

We are bound to believe every infant which has been 
born into life, recieved that blessing through Jesus 
Christ. Had it not been for him, there could never 
have existed an infant child ; because, when our first 
parents had sinned, they on that account, and in that 
fact, fell from the image and favour of God, and be¬ 
came thereby exposed to instant damnation, which the 
very nature of justice required should be executed with¬ 
out any mixture of mercy or delay. But the reason 
why they w ere not cut off in that moment, was, because 
the second person in the adorable Trinity, styled in the 
Scriptures the Word, had, trom the foundation ot the 
world, determined that if man should sin in the hour of 
bis trial, He would instantly espouse man’s cause, as 
a Redeemer, and, in tbe fulness of time, would assume 
bis very nature, such as Adam was be I ore he fell, and 
come into the world to be the victim of relentless yet 
holy justice, and thereby rescue the ruined couple, and 
with them seminally the whole race. On his account, 
therefore, their natural lives were spared, execution 
w as stayed from eternal death of body and soul; for 
the very moment the crime ot disobedience was con¬ 
summated, justice knew where to point its vengeful ar¬ 
rows. For this very reason, it is written in the book 
of God, that Christ is a Lamb , slain from thefounda- 

tion of the world. Rev. 13, 8. 

The salvation, therefore, of the natural lives -of our 
first parents, by the prospective sacrifice of Jesus 
Christ, was also the true and radical cause of the na¬ 
tural life of every infant that is born into the world. 
When Satan tempted the woman to sin, it is evident 


332 EXP EC TED C HR I STI A N MIL LE X N i V M* 


he intended to lay his blasting' hand of ruin to eternity 
upon the very principles which were to usher into be¬ 
ing the whole human family, by destroying the only 
two in whom was deposited the sacred fire of procre¬ 
ative life. 

But from that contemplated dungeon of oblivion 
and nonentity into which the progeny of man was plun¬ 
ged, in the loins of Adam, the blessed Saviour redeem¬ 
ed us, and opened wide the gate of life in his pierced 
side, through which the millions of our race have rush¬ 
ed into being. We conclude, therefore, the position of 
Christ’s being the radical cause of the natural life of all 
infants—a truth, which none but an infidel would wish 
to contradict. If, then, he, by the sacrifice of himself, 
has become the author of natural life to all infants ; 
and being the pure fountain of life itself, cannot, 
therefore, produce an unholy work. He was also 
the author of the being of the two first, who are said 
to come pure from his hand. So all his works are pure 
and holy. 

I have made the foregoing remarks to establish the 
doctrine, that infants are pure and holy through Jesus 
Christ , though descended of fallen parents—which 
circumstance does not invalidate the idea of the rela¬ 
tive, positive, and passive holiness of a child ; because 
direct unholiness is constituted by the direct and volun¬ 
tary act of an informed free agent against light, which 
is not the case of an infant ; for sin is the transgression 
of a known law, either expressed or written on the heart. 
It is, therefore, said by Him who cannot err, that of 
such is the kingdom of heaven. Mar k 10, 13, 14. 16. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 333 

> 

If children, then, at the present time are born into 
life, under such favourable circumstances, as to be 
beloved in a very tender sense by the Son of God, 
and are by him, and through him, pronounced fit sub¬ 
jects for the kingdom of heaven, even notv when the 
world is full of sin and sinners —even now , when they 
are conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity, 
though not absolutely their own , but Adam’s, and their 
parents ; how much more, then, shall they be holy 
in the Millennium, when it cannot be said they are fal¬ 
len or conceived in sin, and brought forth in iniquity, 
judge ye. 

But a question now 7 arises, will those children who 
are born of holy parents in the Millennium, need to be 
converted and regenerated, as children now absolutely 
need when they come to know good from evil, or ar¬ 
rive at the line of accountability ? for although infants 
are not sinners, yet they are fallen. 

I shall answer it by referring to the case of Adam, 
and shall say, if he had not fallen by his own act of 
sin, and had continued holy as he was created, and had 
in pursuance of the holy injunction, multiplied his spe¬ 
cies, can we suppose his offspring would have been oth¬ 
erwise than holy, and consequently stood in no need 
of a change of heart ? Then it w ill follow, that if all 
the saints who are living at the time of the first resur¬ 
rection, do then experience a divine change, which 
shall be equivalent to the state in which Adam stood in 
his innocency, when he had access to the tree of life ; 
then their offspring shall be also holy, and shall need 
no change of heart to fit them for heavenly enjoyments, 


$34 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

which I sincerely believe will be the happy state of both 
the parents and their children. 

If, then, this shall be the happy lot of the genera¬ 
tions of the Millennium, we see at once all these, who 
doubtless will swell in numbers to many millions, shall 
not have any trial or probation during that thousand 
years ; because they will be in the same situation that 
Adam and Eve were in during that space of time which 
must have elapsed between the moment he was created 
and the moment he fell. But how long that time was 
no mortal can determine. It is not reasonable to sup¬ 
pose he fell immediately, for we see he performed se¬ 
veral things before the unhappy moment arrived. The 
things he performed were, first, as soon as he was cre¬ 
ated, he was put into the garden to dress and to keep 
it. A second thing to which lie was called to attend, 
was the law given him concerning the tree of know¬ 
ledge, and the dreadful penalty if he should disobey 
the prohibition. 

A third business which his Creator required his ob¬ 
servance of, was to name every living creature that mo¬ 
ved upon the earth. And whatsoever Adam called ev¬ 
ery living creature that was the name thereof. Gen. 2, 
19. This was a work which would seem to require 
considerable time. 

A fourth incident of bis newly commenced existence 
was, God caused a deep sleep to fall upon him, during 
which time He took from his side a portion of bis 
body, and therewith made he the woman. How much 
time was consumed to do all these things, we cajmot 
tell; but I think it not unreasonable to suppose he was 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 3&J 

occupied in these several particulars less time than one 
week. One clay must have passed by before he was 
called to any of them, which was the seventh or Sab¬ 
bath day, because we see Adam was created on the 
sixth day from the first, and the next being the Sabbath , 
we may not suppose any of those things, except the gi¬ 
ving of the law, were attended to on that day, which 
would be in harmony with its sanctity. 

I consider it extremely absurd to suppose either 
Adam, or his wife, experienced any desire to break the 
holy law given unto them, respecting the tree of know¬ 
ledge, as it is termed, before they were tempted to do 
so. Such a position would prove them already cor¬ 
rupt, even before a law was given, or a temptation 
presented to break that law 7 ; and would prove, beyond 
dispute, that man was originally far enough from being 
pure and holy. If, then, their probation did not com¬ 
mence till the tempter came, then they w 7 ere not proba¬ 
tioners before. The same is the case of infants now. 
They are not probationers until they have matured to 
a knowledge of good and evil, or in the estimation of 
God have come to the line of accountability. 

The reader will perceive I have called to view the 
case of Adam before he fell, and have endeavoured to 
establish that he-was not a probationer until the temp¬ 
tation came, for the purpose of laying a foundation, 
whereby to maintain, that none of the persons born 
during the Mellcnnium will be probationers, though 
free agents until their trial shall also come. 

That they shall not have any trial during the Millen¬ 
nium, is provable from the following : First—Satan 


33G 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM# 


who has been allowed to be the tempter of all our race, 
shall, at the beginning of the Millennium, be shut up. 
So testifies the beloved St. John, that he shall be chain¬ 
ed and cast into the bottomless pit, and sealed, so that 
he cannot escape from thence. If so, then he cannot 
tempt the souls of men during that thousand years.— 
Secondly, if all persons are holy during the Millennium, 
then children, as they come to years of understanding, 
will not be exposed to any evil examples, as they are 
now. 

Upon these grounds, therefore, the multitudes who 
shall be born during the Millennium shall not be tried, 
their fealty shall not be put to the test; and the rea¬ 
son why God will not allow their trial then, is because 
this is his great jubilee—his day of release to a world 
which has been for six thousand years oppressed with a 
weight of sin ; but then it shall rest. But if the trial of 
men’s fealty to God is then permitted to abide the test, 
the peace of that Sabbath will doubtless be disturbed, 
and the race of man reduced to the same deplorable 
predicament they now 7 are in, which would spoil the 
very idea of a Millennium of rest, peace and holiness. 
But if all persons w ho come into being in the Millen¬ 
nium, shall be exempt from trial during that time, 
when, therefore, shall they be called to evince their loy¬ 
alty to God, under circumstances of a seeming induce¬ 
ment to do otherwise? 

This point l proceed to answer. When the thou* 
sand years are expired, we are assured by St. John, the 
beloved disciple, Satan must be loosed for a little sea¬ 
son : aud the verse which informs us that Satan 6hall 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


337 


be shut up and confined in hell, which is called the bot¬ 
tomless pit, because it is eternal in its duration, also in¬ 
forms us that after the thousand years is fulfilled, “ he 
must be loosed a little season.” The purpose, then, 
for which he is loosed is, that he shall become the in¬ 
strument of trial to those who have not had a trial dur¬ 
ing the Millennium. But let none dare to think that 
he is loosed for the express purpose that any of them 
shall be inevitably and necessarily seduced ; for such a 
thought will spoil the very idea of trial or probation— 
for their act of sin will be properly their own volunta¬ 
ry act, as was the case of Adam when he sinned ; for 
they shall all have pow er to resist the tempter as Adam 
had, and if they will be wise, and use that power which 
is free will, they cannot be seduced by Satan when he 
shall make the attempt upon them, for that power is 
the gift of God for their defence, not for their ruin.— 
But, alas ! the sequel of the story is, that of these very 
ones he will deceive many, w ho are compared with the 
sand of the sea for numbers ; and by St. John are 
styled Gog and Magog, w ho will be gathered together 
from the four quarters of the earth, and shall go upon 
the breadth of it, in order every w here to destroy the 
saints, who are spoken of as one great family—hence 
are called the camp of the saints. 

I will here attempt to show 7 the reason why this host 
of persecutors are by St. John, the Revelator, called 
Gog and Magog. 

The ancient Jews were chosen from among the na¬ 
tions by the God of sacred revelation, for the purpose 
«>f committing to them that matchless oracle of truth 

Ee 


I 


338 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


and wisdom, the Bible. This nation, it appears, were 
in their fulness, embodied under twelve patriarchs, and 
were styled the camp of Israel. The title or name of 
Israel arose from the circumstance of Jacob’s being so 
named by the angel at the break of day, when he had 
strove with him all the night—which name signifies to 
prevail. From the circumstance, therefore, of this 
people’s being styled the camp of Israel, who were 
then the only visible church on earth, St. John has spo¬ 
ken of the saints in the Millennium under the same 
idea, and has styled them the camp of the saints. Now 
when the Jews, after their return from the Babylonish 
captivity, in which Daniel was a captive, and had en¬ 
joyed the blessings of their country many years, there 
came against them in those days, (B. C. 300 years) an 
immense army, with the intention of destroying them, 
root and branch, from the earth, which army is called 
by the prophet Ezekiel, Gog and Magog. 

There is not a doubt but St. John has borrowed the 
circumstance of that great armament against the Jews, 
as typical, not only of the papal apostacy, in defiling 
the Christian sanctuary, but also of that last and great 
apostacy at or near the end of time. And as the for¬ 
mer was literally Gog, from the land of Magog, so 
the latter are titled after their very name, because of 
the unparalleled opposition which, by the spirit of 
prophecy, the latter Gog and Magog were : seen 
to make against God and his saints. 

That army which came against the Jews, of whom 
Ezekiel the prophet has given so grand and animated 
account, was the great king Antiochus Epiphanes , who 
with an assemblage of nations, took and pillaged their 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


m 


city and temple of their immense riches. The reason 
why this king was called Gog, say commentators, is 
because the word Gog signifies, in the Syrian language, 
that which is covered or hidden, and applies to the well 
known character of Antiochus, whom historians de¬ 
scribe as an artful , cunning, and dissembling man.— 
And Magog appears to be the country where he had 
the seat of his dominion, which, in other words, was 
called Syria, but by the Syrians Magog. See Pliny, 

* Hist. Nat. v. ch. 23. (Clark.) 

So great and terrible was the overthrow of these na¬ 
tions, who came against the Jews, at the instigation of 
Antiochus, that the prophet Ezekiel has described their 
ruin before hand, as being effected by the sword, by 
pestilence, by great rains mingled with hail stones, and 
by fire and brimstone. These are his words : And it 
shall come to piss, at the same time when Gog shall 
come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, 
that, my fury shall come up in my face. And 1 ivill 
call for a sivord against him, throughout all my moun¬ 
tains, saith the Lord God. And l will plead against 
him with pestilence, and with blood; and I will rain 
upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many peo¬ 
ple that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great 
hailstones, fire and brimstone. Eze. 38, 18,21,22. 
Thunder and lightnings were probably meant here ; 
such as aided m the destruction of tiie Egyptians in 
the days of Moses, when the fire ran along on the 
ground. Exo. 9, 23. 

The vileness, therefore, of the intentions of Antia- 
chus, and his auxiliaries, against God’s camp, the Jews, 


340 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


is the reason why St. John has used them to prefigure 
that last onset of wieked men against the camp of the 
saints in the very end of time, and has called them after 
the name of the former Gog and Magog. And as in 
the case of Gog and Magog, who came against the 
Jews, who were destroyed in a great measure by the 
superintending agencies of supernatural beings under 
the direction of God—so shall the latter Gog and Ma¬ 
gog be destroyed by fire from out of heaven. This I 
believe to be the true interpretation of Gog and Ma¬ 
gog in both cases, as set forth in Ezekiel’s prophecy, 
and in St. John’s view of the state of men after the Mil¬ 
lennium. But in what way the devil will present his 
temptation to those who shall then be tried, is not re¬ 
vealed. 

Here, then, commences that great and last apostacy, 
which, gathering head, becomes popular, and flies for 
acceptance upon the wings of devils through all the 
earth, whereby many are seduced by the destroyer.— 
No doubt but infidelity, in its rankest form, shall be re- 
cieved as orthodox ; and the whole story of God’s book, 
wdth all the accounts of the first resurrection, of w hich 
they had heard so much during the Millennium, from 
those who were living when it happened, will be de¬ 
nied ; and forgetting their former feelings of peace and 
happiness, will scorn and deride the whole as foolish¬ 
ness and imposition—which impious feelings begin to 
be accompanied with the strange and horrid desire ol 
shedding the blood of the righteous. 

Such was the spirit that frow ned on the fates of men,' 
whoa once in the days of Lewis Capet, the French 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 34) 


king, there was formed a community of atheists, wlro, 
to the cunning of the serpent, added his venom, with 
the fury of tigers; and when they had destroyed those 
they hated for their sentiment’s sake, fell with equal fu¬ 
ry upon themselves, for Satan’s house is not a house of 
peace. 

Such were the effects which arose from the impious 
fancies of a Voltaire—out of whose cogitations came 
hosts of murderers, who soon opened the blood sluices 
of the French nation; giving to the world an awful 
proof, that a community of atheists would not regard 
the sacred rights of men. Such will be the spirit of 
those apostates at that day, when Satan shall be loosed 
a little season, a desire to exterminate the righteous 
from the earth, because they testily of sinners that 
their deeds are evil. 

The manner, therefore, that tins apostate host will 
adopt to destroy the camp of the samis, will undoubt¬ 
edly be as usual, where Satan reigns, with fire and 
sword. Such will be the infatuation of this great and 
last sedition, that they will think the lives of the saints 
an easy prey, and their goods lor spoil and plunder. 

Let it be observed, that now' the temptation being 
commenced, that the Millennium is passed by. Seven 
thousand years from the creation is consummated ; and 
Satan, therefore, loosed for a little season, a year or 
two possibly, in which time they again revive the mu¬ 
nitions of war. 

i 

At the commencement of the Millennium the saints had 
beaten swords and spears into instruments of husbandry; 
teut now these apostates revive again the instruments 

Ee» 


342 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

of death. Although they are well acquainted with 
what Isaiah had wrote near four thousand years before, 
that there should come a time when the nations should 
learn war no more, yet, in perfect accordance with their 
infidelity about the truth of the Scriptures, attempt the 
sanguinary preparations, in open defiance of every bet¬ 
ter feeling, against all mercy, and the interdictions 
of heaven, and that, too, against the innocent saints. 

But the words of the Lord are sure words, which are 
that the nations should learn war no more. For while 
they shall be gathering together their forces, with the 
view of attacking the saints in all places at once (as 
Hainan devised to destroy the Jews at Babylon) but 
before they shall come nigh to the camp, ere they have 
felt the horrid pleasure of shedding human blood, or 
have learned the art of war, by experience, a blast offire 
from God out ofheaven shall descend with devouring fu¬ 
ry, and destroy them. See Rev. 20, 9 . And they went 
up on the breadth of the earth , and compassed the camp 
of the saints about , and the beloved city ; and fire came 
down from God out of heaven , and devoured them . 

Thus having passed through the Twelfth Division, 
and having endeavoured to show the probable multi¬ 
plication of mankind in the Millennium, and their 
great privileges and happiness, and why Satan is to be 
loosed a little season, and who they are that will compose 
the army oi Gog and Magog, and why they are called 
so, and in what manner they will probably attempt 
their attack upon the saints, and of the overthrow' of his 
army, we now pass to give an account of the resurree- 
tiou of the wicked dead. 





THIHTEE^TII DIVISION, 

t 

Embraces a view of the resurrection of the wicked dead after the 
Millennium, and endeavours a description of the phenomenon 
of the earth’s dissolution bv fire, and in what wav the elements 
will probably act upon each other, when the great decomposi¬ 
tion of the solar system shall be compelled to take place at the 
command of God. 


But, O my soul, how great the dread display. 

Of world’s dissolving on that fieiy day ; 

Of angels flying—and the great white throne, 

To judge the wicked dead, comes hastening down ; 

And on the amazing pile of dazzling light. 

Will sit the glorious Three in holy might : 

Bet more apparent, Christ, in human form. 

Shall in its centre rule the fiery storm ; 

And from the dreadful height, like ocean's roar. 

His voice will sound,—I live for ever more! 

Now has arrived that day and hour, of which it is . 
said, No man Jcnoiveth , no not the angels in heaven , 
neither the Son , but the Father . Mark 13, 32. The- 
true meaning* of which is, the Son, separate from the 


344 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM 


Father, knoweth not the day nor the hour no more 
than any other mere man ; but, in union with his Fa¬ 
ther, he knoweth both the day and the hour. 

The Saviour often said, in the clays of his fleshy 
of myself (abstract from God as mere man) I can do 
nothing. This remark was intended as an argument 
to show the Jews, that because he could do nothing of 
himself, as a mere man, that therefore the works he 
did showed him to be one with the Father, as he said, 
1 and my Father are one —which fact he desired to im¬ 
press strongly upon the mind of the Jews ; and so they 
understood him, for they said to him, Thou being a 
man makest thyself God , for he said he is the Son of 
God. 

He, therefore, as God, the Word being one w ith God, 
the Father, knoweth all things, and needeth not that 
any man shall tell him what is in man. He, therefore, 
as God, not as mere man like one of us, knoweth both 
the day and the hour when the judgment day shall 
come; for he himself is the mighty Counsellor, the 
Everlasting Father, whose mystic union with the hu¬ 
man nature surpasses the comprehension of all finite 
minds ; but such is the fact, which challenges our faith 
and adoration. 

Let those w ho will not recieve him as such, stumble 
on that stone , and be broken , and on whomsoever that 
stone shall fall shall be ground to powder, by the eter¬ 
nal pressure of his wrath ; for it is written, Kiss the 
Son lest he be angry, arid ye perish from the way when, 
his wrath is kindled but a little. Psalms 2, 12. 

Bat who among mortal meu, whose powers are frail* 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 345 

shall be able to descrihe the terrible approaches of the 
great God, and our Saviour, to judge the world ? So 
glorious and dreadful will be the appearance of his 
great white throne, and so fearful the phenomena that 
will begin to appear in the heavens, the earth and the 
sea, that all description must fall infinitely short of per¬ 
fection. 

Previous to the eruption of some great volcano, 
whose neighbour is the sea, the earth is felt to tremble, 
and the ocean is heard to roar, though there be no 
winds to move its bosom. A fearful stillness pervades 
the air—the fowls of heaven mark their flight with he¬ 
sitancy, and the beasts roar for very fear—the sun is but 
dimly seen through the hazy sky, and meteors glare 
along the frighted concave, ere yet the twilight has 
clad the sunny beams with night’s approach. 

But now shall appear the sign of the Son of Man 
in heaven. Matth. 24, 30 ; for lo ! the planets will be¬ 
gin to wander from their orbs, and dash one against 
the other; for now is lost the latent principle of the 
centrifugal power, which operates on all planets, and 
inclines them to fly off in straight lines into intermi¬ 
nable space, which necessarily will give them a 
tremendous centripetal force towards the Sim. That 
body being the centre or lowest point in the system, is 
therefore the centre of attraction to all the planets. 
Here, then, in their descent toward the §un, will be a 
horrible realization of the stars falling from heaven, 
and of the powers of the heavens being shaken ; and 
Jong before they reach the siui, will dash one against 


34G EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

the other, which, indeed, will be a wreck of matter and 
a crush of worlds on fire. 

But now, ye saints, look up, for your redemption 
IVom earth draws nigh, when you shall feel the mighty 
change from terrestrial to celestial life, which, in the 
twinkling of an eye, shall translate you from a corpo¬ 
real being to that of a heavenly and more glorious 
Mate. 

Hark ! what sound is that which rolls along the ama¬ 
zed heavens, from Saturn’s ring to where Mercury wel¬ 
ters in the sunny beam ? but scarce the sullen roar has 
died away, w hen louder still a dreadful thunder smites 
where hangs our earth amid the trembling air. ’Tis 
Gabriel’s voice—the archangel gives the alarm, when 
to ! as if the treasured thunders of ten thousand years 
were bursting from their iron vaults, and bellowung 
through all the works of God, the dread command, 
Awake , ye dead , and come to judgment. 

Oh ! how unlike is this to the first resurrection of 
the righteous dead, whose opening eyes were greeted 
with the blest vision of eternal day—whose ears were 
saluted with the sweet songs of angels, and whose per¬ 
sons were robed in radiant light, and shall shine like 
stars in the firmament for ever and ever. 

But these awake to all the horrors of a lost estate. 
Their glaring eye-balls catch the doleful view on every 
band, of wretches like themselves—their ears the ap« 
palling sound of* the trump of God—their persons 
naked, and exposed to shame and everlasting contempt 
** all pale with horror, who fain would hide beneath 
borne towering Alps. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


347 


There on a bleak and trembling space stand the 
bole fraternity of infidels, with Voltaire as chief— 
ismay and malice mark the strong agonies of their 
uintenance, when they see atar ofi the dreadful Son 
' God. Then will gnaw the wreathing worm of fell 
•spair within—then, with gnashing teeth, they’ll bite 
ieir tongues for pain, and with timorous voices cry. 


ith all sinners, Mountains and rocks fall on us, and 
ide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne . 
nd frorji the wrath of the Lamb. Rev. 6, 16. 

Now great Babylon shall come into remembrance 
pfore God, to give unto her the cup oj the wine of the 
'erccness of his wrath. Rev. 16, 19. Here is a strong 
ntimation that Papal Rome had, betore this period, 
)eon destroyed, which, in the verse above quoted, is 
called Babylon , and in other places, Mystery Baby~ 
Jon—the Mother of Harlots , and .Abominations of the 
Earth. But in the judgment she is brought into re¬ 
membrance, as if she had been forgotten awhile, 
which seems to agree with our former idea advanced in 
the Seventh Division, that sometime during the next 
century, Rome will be sunk, after the example ofSodom 
and Gomorrah. But if there shall be no Millennium, 
and the judgment day is to come at the end of six 
thousand years from creation, or at the end of the next 
century, as some believe ; and Rome Papal in Italy, 
all this while situated in the midst of the nations prac¬ 
tising her errors, in greater or less degrees, iiow, then* 
can the language of St. John be applicable to the case, 
of Rome, to bring her to remembrance in particular, 
more than other sinners, if she had not been de- 


348 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


stroyed. and cast out of sight before that time, and, 

in a relative sense, forgotten ? 

But now, when death and hell shall give up their 

dead, she shall be brought to remembrance, to be ex¬ 
posed, and her works made known to an assembled 
world, and her final doom pronounced. For inker 
was found the blood of 'prophets and of saints , and of 
all that tvere slain on the earth. Rev. 18, 24. 

But still the dreadful trump blows its shrill blast 
throughout the globe, and awakes the dead in every 
clime. There, from the sea of Sodom, many thou¬ 
sands rise from underneath the stagnant lake, who of¬ 
fered violence to the wayfaring angels in the days of 
Lot, but now are suffering the vengeance of eternal 
fire . Jude, 7. There, from the Red Sea of the Egyp¬ 
tians, come forth to hateful life Pharaoh’s tawny host, 
whose trust was in the gods of tiie Nile. The Jews at 
Jerusalem, and in all other countries who partake of 
their character, of whom the Saviour said, If ye be¬ 
lieve not that f am He, ye shall die in your sins, (John. 
8, 28) and, Whither 1 go ye cannot come —shall rise 
to see Him they hated, and hung on a tree, God over 
all, blessed for ever more, coming in the splendour of 
his meek and eternal kingdom. 

Ah ! wdiat a host shall now come forth from all saint 
butchering countries, to fee! the eternal smart inflicted 
by a holier inquisition from above; for God hath said. 
Vengeance is mine, I will repay it, saith the Lord. 
Rom. 12, 19. 

And the sea gave up their dead, which were in it, 
and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 3 19 

than. Rev. 20, 13. This verse should be understood, 
that the sea and the earth is here personified by the 
word death , who holds the bodies of the wicked dead 
under his power in the grave ; and the word hell , or 
hades , personifies the place w here are confined the souls 
of those wicked dead till the final judgment, which is 
unquestionably in the subterranean fires of the earth, 
the volcanos and burning mountains. This idea ga¬ 
thers strength from the recollection, that it is said in 
Revelation 20, 14. And Death and Hell were cast 
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. From 
w hich it is abundantly certain, that the first death and 
first hell spoken of appertain to this earth, else how 
can they be taken and cast into a lake of fire, which St, 
John says is the second death, and is that hell or lake 
of fire which w as prepared for the devil and his angels, 
into which the first death and first hell, which appertain 
to this earth, shall be cast at the day ofjudgment ; else 
how can the Revelator say, that death ai>] hell were 
cast into the lake of fire, if they are not considered 
two separate places. The place, therefore, of depart¬ 
ed spirits, who have died in their sins, is in the subtcr- 
terranean fires of this globe. There, in those flames, 
in the literal sense, did the soul of the rich man spoken 
of by St. Luke, 16, 24, lift up his eyes, being tormen¬ 
ted. 

It is supposed by philosophers, “ Boerhaave, Boyle, 
and various others, who devote their lives to the studv 
of nature, that the centre of the earth contains a mass 
of lava in a state of perpetual fusion. This ocean of 
fiame they call a second sun. Various observation; 

Ff 


350 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 

tend to support this idea. In the first place, the rays 
of the sun have scarcely any power ten feet beneath 
the surface of the earth. Secondly ; M. de Luc, on 
the fifth of June, 1778, descended the mines of Hartz 
to the depth of 1359 feet, where he found the air some¬ 
what warmer than on the surface. But in the mines ol 
Hungary, which are 3000 feet deep, the heat becomes 
very great, and almost insupportable. If the sun is 
not the cause of this heat, it must arise from internal 
fires. 

But to return to our subject. The terrors of that 
day proceed, for now reigns confusion and dismay 
throughout all the earth, except in the camp of the 
saints ; for behold the ancient of days is coming nigh 
to this devoted earth, though seen only in the person of 
the glorious son of God. The prophet Daniel had a 
view of the glory and majesty of his appearing when 
he shall come in the clouds of heaven, with all his 
mighty angels, to be admired of his saints, and to 
judge the dead. 1 beheld , said Daniel, till the thrones 
were cast down , i. e. he had, in the vision of God, seen 
the end of all earthly glory, thrones, kingdoms, ho¬ 
nours and riches, and found they were counted as the 
small dust of the balance in the sight of him whose 
throne is now set in the top of the heavens, the splen¬ 
dour of which will hide the sun as a taper lost. 1 6e- 
held till the thrones were cast down , and the ancient of 
days did sit , whose garment was white as snoiv , and the 
hair of his head like pure wool: his throne teas like the 
fiery flame, and his whee ls as burning fire. A fiery 
stream issued and came forth from before him ; thou* 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 351 

sands ministered unto him , and ten thousand times ten 
thousand stood before him . Dan. 7, 9, 10. 

This is the great white throne which was seen in the 
vision ot St. John, the description of which surpasses 
all human eflort. And I saw a great white throne , and 
him that sat on it , from whose face the earth and the 
heaven fled, away , and, there was found no place for 
them . Rev. 20, 11. This is that Jesus who suffered 
such contradiction of sinners among the Jews, and was 
insulted, scourged, buffeted and spit upon in the judg¬ 
ment hall of Pilate, and mocked, even after he was 
nailed to the tormenting cross ; but now is revealed 
from heaven with his mighty angels , in flaming fire , 
taking vengeance on them that know not God , and that 
obey not the, gospel, of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thes. 
1,8. This is that crucified one, who was dead, but is 
alive for ever more ; who, during many ages, has been 
the taunt of infidels, but now is known to be Him who 
holds in his hands the destinies of all beings. At tills 
moment he gives in charge to his angels to gather his 
elect from the four winds of heaven. Swift as the 
fierce lightnings they fly at his command, who naaketh 
his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire, to 
bring his sons from far, and his daughters from the ends 
of the earth. Sudden as the flash of nitrous grain when 
touched with the etherial spark, they feel the immortal 
change, such as Elijah felt when from the earth he 
sprang into Israel’s fiery chariot, and soared to heaven. 
So these shall clap their wings of fire, and be caught up 
io meet the Lord in the air, and to join the spirits of 


352 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

just men made perfect, who had ascended a thousand 
years before. 

But now the end of all things is come relative to the 
solar system only, of which it is said, the heavens shall 
pass away ; and means, as I apprehend, the heaven of 
each particular planet and comet in the system, shall 
pass away with a great noise , and the elements (of each) 
shall melt with fervent heat ; the earth also , and the 
works that are therein , shall be burned up, 2 Peter, 
3, 10 . 

I w r ould here notice three reasons w hich argue in fa¬ 
vour of the destruction of the w'hole system. The 
first is the word heavens shall pass away. See Gen. 1, 
8. And God called the firmament heaven. Observe, 
it is in the singular ; but the former is in the plural, 
heavens. The other argument is, the words, the earth 
also shall be burnt up, which seems to signify a sepa¬ 
rate destruction. 

It is very plain that there is but one firmament or 
heaven, which encompasses the globe. Therefore, in 
Gen. 1, 8, it is said, And God called the firmament 
heaven ; but St. Peter says, the heavens shall be on 
fire and be dissolved. From which it is evident, that 
other worlds shall be dissolved as well as this. 

Another and third argument that the whole system 
shall fall to ruin, is, that the sun shall be darkened , 
which will at once introduce perfect confusion ; because 
if the light of the sun be blotted out. w hat assurance 
have we that any of the planets can keep their course; 
for ii that luminous body of light which surrounds the 
opake part of the sun be destroyed, it is an argument 


"EXPECTE© CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


353 


that the very nature of the sun is on the verge of ru¬ 
in ; and unless it is the purpose of the Creator to de¬ 
stroy both the sun and all the planets in the solar sys¬ 
tem, why should he be darkened at all? 

That the sun will be darkened, we find the Saviour 
affirms to his disciples, when they went to him on the 
Mount of Olives, and asked him privately, when those 
things relative to the destruction of Jerusalem and the 
end of the world should be. Matth. 24. To the first 
part of their question, which relates to the destruction 
of the Jews and the temple, he answered by foretelling 
many things, which plainly refer to all the horrible ca¬ 
lamities that came on that nation soon after his death 
and resurrection, and continued to come till the Ro- 

i 

mans finished the dreadful tragedy. See Josephus. 

But to the latter question, which was, And what 
shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the 
world ? lie answered them in the same 24th chapter, 
at verses 29, 30, 31, by saying, “ Immediately after 
the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, 
and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars 
shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall 
be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son 
of Man in heaven : and then shall the tribes of the 
earth mourn ; and they shall seethe Son of Man com¬ 
ing in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glo¬ 
ry. And he shall send his angels with a great sound 
of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect 
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the 
other.” Which answer of the Saviour I understand 
refers to the destruction of the whole system at the 

Ff* 


354 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


judgment day ; but tins interpretation, which is the 
one commonly affixed to this place, some commen¬ 
tators seriously disallow, and contend, that the whole 
chapter alludes to the ruin of the Jewish nation, as de¬ 
stroyed by the Romans under Titus. But how this 
can be, I cannot discern. They say, the darkening of 
the sun and moon signifies that the Jewish heaven was 
to perish, and the sun and the moon of its glory and 
happiness shall be darkened, and so brought to noth¬ 
ing. The sun, say they, is the religion of their church 
—the moon is the government of the state ; and the 
stars are the judges and doctors of both. 

But in order to demonstrate that opinion erroneous, 
1 shall examine the Saviours reply to his disciples, 
when they had asked him 'privately , (for lie had just 
finished a discourse to the Jews, containing calamitous 
denunciations against them) a twofold question respec¬ 
ting the time when those denunciations against the 
Jews and their city should take place, also when the 
end of the world should be. Tell us (said they) when 
shall these things be ; (the destruction of the Jews) 
and what shall be the sign of thy coming , (to judg¬ 
ment) and of the end of the world . Verse 3. The 
reason why they asked him about his coming, and the 
end of the world, was, because he had said to the Jews 
in his discourse, see chap. 23,39, Fori say unto you, 
ye shall not see me henceforth (i. e. after his crucifix¬ 
ion) till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the 
name of the Lord. This, it seems, they understood 
to refer to the end of the world. To which the Sa¬ 
viour as evidently and distinctly answered both ques- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 35$ 

lions ; for it is written, And Jesus answered and said 
unto them , Take heed that no man decicve you , con¬ 
cerning' his being the true Messiah ; from which he 
proceeds to relate, item by item, what should befall 
them, from verse 4 to verse 28, inclusive, to which I 
refer the reader ; but at verse 29 commences the an¬ 
swer to the other question, which relates to the end of 
the world, and tells them that “ Immediately after the 
tribulation of those days (referring to the calamities of 
the Jews) shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall 
not give her light, and the stars shall fail from heaven, 
and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” But 
if the disciples had asked him an improper question, or 
even asked the question improperly, he would have 
corrected them; but instead of doing so, he definitely 
answered both questions, aud therefore sanctions their 
correctness in this particular. 

If the distresses and tribulation which came upon 
the Jews as a nation, was the identical darkening of 
the sun and moon, and the destruction of the stars, as 
some have supposed, how, then, could the Saviour say, 
that after the tribulation of tho»e days shall the sun be 
darkened, &c. if the above tribulation was the real 
darkening, and their government a real heaven, inten¬ 
ded by the Saviour ? How, then, w as it darkened a se¬ 
cond time afterwards ? 

A second idea, that the Saviour meant the judgment 
day, and the worlds contained in the great solar vor¬ 
tex, wheu he spoke of the darkening of the sun and 
moon, is, that he has said in the same 29th verse, that 
Che powers of the heavens shall be shaken at the same 


35G EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

time ; but those commentators have not attached to the 
Jewish polity and government but one heaven , which 
they say was darkened when it was destroyed ; but 
the Saviour has certainly spoken of more heavens than 
one, which he said should be shaken after those days 
of Jewish tribulation ; therefore, he does not mean 
the Jewish government. 

That the firmament, or atmosphere, which surrounds 
this globe, is but one heaven, is proven Gen. 1, 8. 
And God called the firmament heaven . That most 
learned man, Dr. Clark, has, in his commentary upon 
that very word, heavens , contended that it relates to 
each heaven , or firmament, which surrounds each world 
of the solar system, and that in that w ord is really em¬ 
braced the whole solar fabric. The first place where 
it occurs in the sacred volume, is the second chapter 
of Genesis, first verse. ■“ Thus the heavens and the 
earth were finished.” And upon this word, heavens , 
Mr. Clark builds his belief, that it embraces the whole 
system—to which opinion it is judicious to subscribe. 
I will give his words upon it, contained in his com¬ 
ment : The heavens and the earth. u As the word (hea¬ 
vens) is plural, we may rest assured that it means more 
than the atmosphere. The word heavens must, there¬ 
fore, comprehend the whole solar system, as it is very 
likely the whole of this was created in six days : for 
unless the earth had been the centre of a system, the 
reverse of which is sufficiently demonstrated, it would 
be unphilosophic to suppose it was created indepen¬ 
dently of the other parts of the system. But as the 
design of the inspired penman was to relate w hat es- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 357 

pecially belonged to our world and its inhabitants, 
therefore he passes by the rest of the planetary system, 
leaving it simply included in the plural word hea¬ 
vens .” 

I therefore conclude, that the view of those commen¬ 
tators who affix it to the Jewish heaven , is wrong, be¬ 
cause Christ said in the same verse, where he says the 
sun shall be darkened, that the powers of the heavens 
shall be shaken, which is the plural, as Clark contends, 
and cannot be the Jewish heaven , which is in the sin¬ 
gular. 

A third argument which goes to disprove that our 
Lord meant the Jewish government, or heaven, when 
he said the sun shall be darkened, and the powers of 
the heavens shall be shaken, is, that at that time they 
had no government of their own, but were then under 
the Roman yoke. 

Thirty-six years before the time when our Lord 
spoke those words to his disciples, the Romans had ta¬ 
ken away their government, and created a king of their 
own. Herod was his name, an Idumean by nativity, 
who conspired against the infant life of Jesus Christ; 
but he died that same year. 

This dominion the Romans continued to hold, till, 
being provoked by the Jewish contentions and sedi¬ 
tions, they came under Titus, and cut them offi If, 
therefore, the Jews had no political heaven, as is by 
some supposed, our Lord, therefore, could not mean 
them in his answer to disciples, when they asked him of 
his coining , and of the end of the world , 

But here may arise a query with the reader, who may 


858 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 

wish to know how these w ords can refer to the judg¬ 
ment day; because our Lord said the sun should be 
darkened immediately after those days of Jewish tribu¬ 
lation. 

&— « 

To which I reply, it should be remembered, 
that the tribulations of the Jews is not yet passed by ; 
for they are a people scattered over the whole earth, 
and have never recovered their manner of government 
since the Romans put their first king over them. Tak¬ 
ing this view of the subject, much of the seeming diffi¬ 
culty disappears,* for the Jew s will never recover their 
peculiar laws nor mode of government again. 

But relative to the accomplishment of both predic¬ 
tions contained in this chapter, first, to the destruction 
of Jerusalem, and second, to the end of the world, the 
Saviour has clearly stated in verse 34, that the genera¬ 
tion of the Jews should not pass till alibis word should 
be fulfilled. Verily I say unto you , this generation 
shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. The 
meaning of which, I apprehend, is, that the very gen¬ 
eration of Jews then living at the time of the Saviour, 
should not pass, i. e. should not die till Jerusalem 
should be destroyed, which was realized about forty 
years after his crucifixion; consequently a great part 
of that generation lived to experience a literal fulfil, 
ment. But respecting that part of the prediction 
which relates to the end of the world, it may with equal 
propriety apply ; because the generation of Jews, as a 
nation, w ill not pass, i. e. become extinct, but shall re¬ 
main a people, and a distinct people, till the end of the 
world —till all these things be fulfilled. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM”. 


35$ 


We see, therefore, with great propriety, the Lord 
eould say immediately after those days of tribulation, 
passing over the interim of the Millennium as but a 
clay. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of 
Man in heaven : and then shall all the tribes 6f the 
earth mourn when they shall see the Son of Man com - 
ing in the clouds of heaven with power and great glo¬ 
ry. The circumstance connected with the darkening 
of the sun, &lc. as mentioned above, viz. that all the 
tribes of the earth shall mourn , accords but poorly with 
the time of the destruction of Jerusalem ; because we 
cannot suppose but all the nations (and they were ma¬ 
ny) in the interest of Titus ; and the Roman empire 
rejoiced, instead of mourning, when the Jews were de¬ 
stroyed. Therefore, if the Saviour did not refer to. 
that time, it follows, that he spoke in reply to his disci¬ 
ple’s question of the end of the world, the general 
judgment. 

But in this place I will just remark, that the darken¬ 
ing of the sun in Matth. 24, 29, and the darkening of 
the sun in Rev. 6, 12, are by no means coincident, and 
the reason is plain. At the time when the Saviour s 
prediction shall be fulfilled, it is said the Son of Man 
“ shall send his angels with a great sound of a trum¬ 
pet, and they shall gather together his elect (living 
saints) from the four winds, (the whole earth) from 
one end of heaven to the other.” And why shall this 
be done at any period previous to the end of time. But 
in Rev. 6, 12, it is not stated, nor even intimated, that 
it should be a time of gathering the saints, but refers 
exclusively to the subversion of the Roman pagan em* 








•v > 


V-t/rv; 


GW;T 






360 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


pil e by Christianity, through Constantine as an instru¬ 
ment. The sun, which was then darkened, and the 
moon, which became as blood, and the stars, which 
fell from heaven, and the great earthquake mentioned, 
were, first, the sun, the secular government—second, 
the moon, their ecclesiastical government, or idolatrous 
priesthood—and third, their “ gods, goddesses, demi¬ 
gods, and deified heroes, of the poetical and mytholo¬ 
gical heaven.”- Clark. The whole of which, when 
considered together, are majestically signified by the 
word earthquake , as a figure of that revolution. But 
neither St. Matthew nor St. Mark give any account of 
the Saviour’s saying that there should be an earthquake 
at the time when the sun should be darkened immedi¬ 
ately after the tribulation of the Jews. In the same 
chapter, however, there is mention made that there 
should be earthquakes , meaning, doubtless, as is meant 
in Rev. 6, 12, to signify commotions and revolutions of 
kingdoms and states, &c. ; but is exclusively connect¬ 
ed with the signs of the coming destruction of the 
Jews, and not with the judgment or end of the world. 
The things foretold to take place at those times of 
darkening the sun, are totally dissimilar, and therefore 
allude to different periods, viz. the time of Constan¬ 
tine, and the judgment day. 

The latitude of the language in St. Matthew is too 
great and general, to be restricted to that small portion 
ot the globe called Palestine , and evidently refers to 
the time when the saints are to be changed in the twink¬ 
ling of an eve, at the sound of the last trump* At which 
lime the wicked shall stand to be judged, every man 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 36J 


according to the deeds they have done in the body, 
from the least of them to the greatest, from the horrid 
infidel to the least unregencrated one among them ; 
and their sentence shall be written on the heart, and 
the date thereof eternity, put in characters of unspeak¬ 
able despair. 

But now the great assize is past. At this momei t 
the energies of nature are let loose, and all the great 
solar vortex breaks forth in flames of fire, for now is 
eome the day of God, wherein the heavens (of the 
whole solar system) being on fire, shall be dissolved, 
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat . The 
earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be 
burned up. 2 Pet. 3, 12, 20. 

A philosophical description, by Dr. Clark, of the 
probable operation of the elements upon each other at 
that day, is higdily interesting. See 2 Pet. 3, 10, and 
the comment. 

The heavens shall pass away with a great noise .— 
«« As the heavens in this place mean the whole atmos¬ 
phere, in which all terrestrial vapours are lodged ; and 
as water itself is composed of two gases, eighty-five 
parts in weight of oxygen, and fifteen of hydrogen, or 
two parts in volume of the latter, and cue of the for ¬ 
mer : (for if these quantities be put together, and sev¬ 
eral electric sparks passed through them, a chemical 
union takes place, and water is the product ; and, vice 
versa, if the galvanic spark be made to pass through 
water, a portion of fluid is immediately decomposed 
into its two constituent gases, oxygen and hydrogen) 
and as the electric or eiherial fire is that which, in all 


362 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM 


likelihood, God will use in the general conflagration, 
the noise occasioned by the application o f this fire to 
such an immense congeries of aqueous particles as float 
in the atmosphere, must be terrible in the extreme. 
When, therefore, the whole strength of those opposite 
agents is brought together into a state of conflict, the 

noise, the thunderings, the innumerable explosions (till 

* 

every particle of water on the earth, and in the atmos¬ 
phere, is, by the action of fire, reduced into its compo¬ 
nent gaseous parts) will be frequent, loud, confounding, 
and terrific, beyond every comprehension but that of 
God himself. The elements shall melt with fervent 
heat . When the fire has conquered and decomposed 
the water, the elements, the hydrogen and oxygen airs 
or gases (the former of which is most highly inflamma¬ 
ble, and the latter an eminent supporter of al! combus¬ 
tion) will occupy distinct regions of the atmosphere—* 
the hydrogen, by its very great levity, ascending to 
the top, while the oxygen, from its superior specific 
gravity, will keep upon or near the surface of the earth, 
and thus, if different substances be once ignited, the 
fire which is supported in this case, not only by the ox¬ 
ygen, which is one of the constituents of atmospheric 
air, but also by a great additional quantity of oxygen 
obtained from the decomposition of all aqueous va¬ 
pours, will rapidly seize on all other substances, on all 
terrestrial particles, and the whole frame of nature will 
necessarily be torn in pieces, and thus the earth , and its 
ivories , be burnt up.” *' 

“ It was an ancient opinion among the heathens. 




EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 303 


that the earth should be burnt up with fire. So Ovid 
has expressed himself. Meta. lib. iv. 256. 

“ Remembering in the fates a time, when fire 
Should to the battlements of heaven aspire ; 

And all his blazing world above should burn, 

And all the inferior globe to cinders turn.” 

“Minucius Felix tells us, xxxiv. 2 Dryden, that it 
was a common opinion of the Stoics, that the moisture 
of the earth being consumed, the whole world would 
catch fire. The Epicureans held the same sentiment; 
and indeed it appears in various authors, which proves 
that a tradition of this kind has pretty generally pre¬ 
vailed in the world. But it is remarkable that none 
have fancied that it will be destroyed by water. The 
tradition, founded on the declaration of God, was 
against this: therefore it was not received.” Dr. 
Clark. 

“ Thunder and earthquake are the sons of fire, and 
we know nothing in all nature more impetuous, or 
more ii-^calotioiy destructive than these two ; and ac¬ 
cordingly in this last war of the elements, we may be 
sure they will bear their parts, and do great execution 
in the several regions of the earth. Earthquakes and 
subterraneous eruptions, will tear the body and bowels 
of the earth, and thunders and convulsive motions of the 
air, the skies. The waters of the sea will boil and 
struggle with streams of lava that run into them, 
which will make them fume, and smoke, and roar, be¬ 
yond all storms and tempests, and these noises of the 
sea will be answered again from the land by falling 


364 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM* 


rocks and mountains.” Sinner! this is your house, 
your future home—it is the wages of your sins—it is 
the palace of devils—the repository of all that is bad— 
the great cauldron of eternal death—and is soon to be 
thrown from its orb into its congenial hell of fire and 
brimstone, prepared for the devil and his angels. 

“ Here are lakes of fire, rivers of melted glowing 
matter, ten thousand volcanos vomiting flames all at 
once, thick darkness, and pillars of smoke, twisted 
about with wreaths of flame like fiery snakes—moun¬ 
tains of earth thrown into the air, and the heavens 
dropping down in lumps of fire. 

“ But now r the storm subsides ; for the fire has sub¬ 
dued all bodies, all combustibles, to itself; and those 
tall flames which pierced the skies, are fallen to an even 
surface, and present the earth as a molten sea of fire ; 
for when the exterior region of the earth is melted into 
a liquid state, it will, according to the nature of all 
other fluids, fill all vacuities and depressions, and fall 
into a regular surface at an equal distance every where 
from its centre. In this condition, the on, th, w Jth all 
its sinners, who have persevered to the end in evil do¬ 
ings, shall be thrown from its orb, to w here a hell o! 
fire, in the deep recess of eternal night, hath its place” 
—which is that very lake of fire into which the devil, 
who decieved all sinners, shall finally with them be 
thrown, togetlier with the earth, at the judgment day ; 
for thus saith the Lord, (see Rev. 20, 10.) And the 
devil that decieved them , was cast into the lake of fire 
and brimstone . 

Such shall be the end of this poor world—the god. 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


365 


of millions—the place where death now reigns over the 
body, and the hell, wherein now are confined the de¬ 
parted spirits of the ungodly ; but these shall be cast, 
together with the earth, into a lake of fire ; for it is 
written, Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. 
This is the second death. Rev. 20, 14. 

But, reader, you may escape it—the way is open 
and plain—cease to do evil, and learn to do well- 
have faith in the Son of God, working by love, and 
persevere in this to the end ; so you shall be happy, 
shall be honourable, shall be glorious, shall be immor¬ 
tal, shall be as the angels of God at the resurrection of 
the just ; for such is the promise of Him who was 
dead ; but, behold ! he is alive for ever more ! 









i 


FOURTEENTH DIVISION. 


Embraces a view of the new creation, which is to succeed the de¬ 
struction of this system, in which I shall contend that a new 
creation shall be the result, but not a modulation of the former 
matter which is to be destroyed by fire, but a new creation out 
of nothing, as it was in the beginning. 

From the great vault, where flies in open sight, 

The solar system’s worlds of borrow’d light; 

When they have pass’d away, and earth and skies, 

The new creation fair will then arise— 

To which no tempter foul, with blasting breath, 

Shall e’er come nigh to kill with pains and death ; 

But there the saints shall reign immortal kings, 

Far oft' from time and sublunary things. 

That there shall be a new creation brought into ne- 
ing, after the destruction of the heavens and earth, is 
established by the Scriptures ; for it is written, And 
he that sat upon the throne said , Behold, I make all 
things new. And he said unto me, Write, for these 
words are true and faithful. Rev. 21, 5. 

Here the spirit evidently lavs important stress upon 
the great and sublime work of a new creation, by say- 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN’ MILLENNIUM. 


367 


ing'. These ivords are true and faithful . Therefore* 
they shall certainly be accomplished* This very thing 
was expected by the ancient Jews, as constituting much 
ol the bliss of a future state ; for thus they understood 
their prophet Isaiah to mean, when he says, For be J 
hold I create new heavens and a new earth ; and, the 
former shall not be remembered , nor come into mind * 
Isa. 65, 17. Now if the new creation is to be made 
out ot the old one, how, then, can it with any propriety 
be said by Isaiah, that it shall not come into mind, 
when the remembrance must necessarily continue, that 
out of the old system’s materials the new creation- 
was made? But respecting the time when this shall be 
accomplished : The ancient Jews believed that God 
would bring into being this new creation at the end of 
seven thousand years. This opinion of theirs, 1 con- 
sider both interesting and singular, and goes to esta- 
blish the sentiment, that they considered the age of this 
world limited to seven thousand years, which agrees 
with the opinions advanced in the Seventh Division. 

Some who are learned, of our own times, have 
Strangely hesitated upon the subject of this new crea¬ 
tion, and have considered it vastly presumptuous to 
venture a thought definitely upon it, or pretending to 
say w hat is meant by it, and in what it shall consist* 
But in order to pass clear of the charge of presump¬ 
tion, I shall here introduce St. John, as qualifying the 
nature of its consistency 7 . And 1 saw a new heaven 
arid a new earth ; for the first heaven and the first earth 
were passed away, and there was no more sea. Rev. 21, 
1. If the first earth and first heaven are properly so 


3GB EXACTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

designated, because they consist of the four elements, 
earth, (ire, air and water, then we have a clue whereby 
to find out of what the new heaven and new earth 
shall consist. We see that God, in the beginning, cal¬ 
led the dry land earth. Gen. 1, 10 ; and that he called 
the firmament heaven. Gen. 1, 8. Therefore, these 
being thus named in the first instance, it is hence per¬ 
fectly reasonable to believe, that the new heaven and 
new earth, in the second instance, shall consist of like 
materials with this—otherwise we understand nothing 
by the communication by St. John. But undoubtedly 
the beauty and glory of the new creation will greatly 
exceed that part of the present system in which we 
live ; for this, by the great deluge, and many other 
convulsions in nature, has become defaced, and chan¬ 
ged from what it was at first. The reason why this 
•earth is to be destroyed, is, unquestionably because it 
is polluted ; and God, to signify to man his exceeding 
hatred to sin, has determined to destroy it by fire. A 
signification something like this, though effected by the 
agency of a different element, is apparent in the ruin 
it once sustained by the deluge ; for God could as ea¬ 
sily have destroyed these antedeluvian nations in any 
other way as by a general flood. But why the other 
globes of the system are to be removed, is doubtless to 
give place to the new creation. Their number, it seems, 
besides the comets, is 31 ; but the number of comets, 
perhaps, is as yet unknown. 450 have been discover¬ 
ed, and the elements of 103 have been calculated ; but 
whether the comets properly belong to the solar system, 
«>r are a system o( themselves, or whether they connect 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 369 

systems, is perhaps a question. But if they do not be¬ 
long to this system, then they were not created at the 
same time with this ; and therefore will not be involved 
in the consequences of the judgment day. 

There is good reason to believe, that all the planets, 
with all their satellites, all comets and systems, together 
with their respective suns, be their numbers greater or 
smaller, are inhabited by intelligent beings. It is im¬ 
probable that either the sun to this, or the suns to other 
systems, or even the comets, are fire, as has been sup¬ 
posed. “ On the nature of the sun there have been 
various conjectures. It was long thought that he was 
avast globe of fire, 1,384,462 times larger than the 
earth, and that he was continually emitting from his 
body innumerable millions of fiery particles, w hich, be¬ 
ing extremely divided, answered the purpose of light 
and heat, without occasioning any ignition, or burning 
except when collected in the focus of a convex lens, or 
burning glass. Against this opinion, however, many 
serious and weighty objections have been made ; and 
it has been so pressed with difficulties, that philosophers 
have been obliged to look for a theory less repugnant 
to nature and probability. Dr. Herschel’s discoveries 
h y means of his immensely magnifying telescopes, 
have, by the general consent of philosophers, added a 
new habitable world to our system, which is the sun. 
Without stopping to enter into a detail of the proprie¬ 
ty of the position, it is sufficient to say, that these dis¬ 
coveries tend to prove, that what w'e call the sun is only 
the atmosphere of that globe, and that this atmosphere 
consists of various elastic fluids, that are more or less 


570 EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 

lucid and transparent ; that as the clouds belonging to 
our earth are probably decompositions of some of the 
elastic fluids belonging to the atmosphere itself, so we 
may suppose that in the vast atmosphere of the sun, si¬ 
milar decompositions may take place—but with this 
difference, that the decomposition of the elastic fluids 
of the sun are of a phospiioric nature, and are attended 
by lucid appearances, by giving out light. The real 
opake body of the sun he considers as hidden general¬ 
ly from us, by means of this luminous atmosphere ; 
but what are called the maculae, or spots on the sun, 
and have frequently been seen with the naked eye, are 
real openings in this atmosphere, through which the 
opake body of the sun becomes visible—that this at¬ 
mosphere itself is not fiery or hot, but is the instru¬ 
ment which God designed to act on the caloric or la¬ 
tent heat, and that heat is only produced by the solar 
light acting upon and combining with the caloric, or 
matter of pure virgin fire, contained in the air, and 
other substances which are heated by it. 

“ Where the stars are in great abundance, Dr. Her- 
schel supposes they form primaries and secondaries, i, 
e. suns revolving about suns, as planets revolve about 
the sun in our system. He considers that this must be 
the case in what is called the milky way —the stars be¬ 
ing there in prodigious numbers. Of this he gives the 
following proof: On August 22, 1792, he found that 
in 41 minutes of time, not less than 258,000 stars had 
passed through the field of view in his telescope.”-— 
Clark on Gen. 1,16. 

Oh ! what a view is this of the great God, who has 
created countless systems of matter, and are all the 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


371 

abodes of intelligent beings, whose numbers swell be¬ 
yond the reach of all finite computation. Well might 
the Evangelist say, And I heard, as it were , the voice 
of a great multitude, and as the voice of many maters, 
and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alle¬ 
luia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Rev. ID, 

6. This earth, I have endeavoured to prove, shall be 
cast into the great lake of fire at the judgment day ; 
but what shall become of the other globes of the sys¬ 
tem, after having been dissolved by fire, we cannot tell. 

It is the opinion of Dr. Clark, that at the judgment 
day they will be decomposed, but not destroyed ; con¬ 
sequently, he thinks they may enter again into the com¬ 
position of a new system. See comment on 2 Pet. 3, 11. 

The globes of this system may indeed (except the 
earth) be arranged, and newly modified into another 
system, and be placed somewhere in the field of inter¬ 
minable space, which now is void ; but the space which 
they now occupy must be the site of a new creation . 

Annihilation is abhorrent to the views of many re¬ 
lative to matter, who contend that it is altogether inde¬ 
structible ; from which the conclusion is drawn, that 
the earth, and all the other globes, shall only be refined 
by fire, and shall then be renewed again, and thus they 
make out the new creation. But to me, this opinion 
appears opposed to the very idea of a new creation, 
by substituting in its place a renovation, or a new mo¬ 
dulation, which cannot, with the proper and original 
sense of the word, be made to agree. 

If we believe that God at first created the worlds ont 
of nothing, then we may not suppose the pre-existence 
of any particles of matter, out of which he might bav£ 


3*72 


EXPECTED CHRISTIAN MILLENNIUM. 


formed them. This is what wc understand by crea¬ 
tion, when we apply it to the making of the worlds ill 
the first instance ; and therefore, by the strictest rules 
of reasoning, ought to adopt the same sentiment iji 
reference to the new creation. 

I know of no data whereon to build the supposition* 
that God cannot, or that he will not annihilate matter* 
if he please. The fact that he can bring entity out of 
nonentity, is sufficient proof that he can, if he please, 
annihilate the same ; for it is equally above our reason 
to have any conceptions of a pow’er sufficient to make 
something out of nothing, as it is to conceive how 
something can be changed to nothing. If the globes 
of the system, except the earth, are not to be annihila¬ 
ted, it follows that they must be removed to some place 
in the great field of interminable space, where God has 
not yet built a system of worlds, to make room for the 
promised new creation ; for it is reasonable to suppose, 
the same space'which now embraces the location of this 
system, shall also embrace the new creation ; because 
if the first is to be removed, that a second may arise, it 
strongly implies that the latter shall occupy the place 
of the former—wherefore, according to his promise, 
we look for new heavens, i. e. a new system of worlds, 
and a new' earth ; for the first heaven (which surrounds 
this globe) and the first earth are passed away . Rev. 
21 , 1 . 

Then when that glorious frame shall into being rise 
Adorn'd with more than fill d earth's ancient Paradise; 

Then in those world’s of love, O ! let my spirit rest, 

Among the righteous there—among the blest. 


FINIS 








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